WOYWW.....

Whoops is it Wednesday?  My oh my I'm not gonna miss out on my usual fun even if all is chaos here today   :-)

I will now go and snap what is on my desk today....

 Oh exciting times ahead....My darling hubby has treated me to a set to do lino cutting and printing with so that's what's sitting on my desk waiting for play time.

• Will I be using it today?..........Nope

• Why not?.......cos I am baking, laying special tables and preparing the house for all my wonderful family to come this afternoon for our family festive get together.

• Will I be able to do my rounds of all your blogs today?.....Probably not but I will do my best to catch up with you all very soon.

I just have to say I really hope you are all having a wonderful festive time....I know I am  :-)
I will be back soon.

Love and hugs,
Annie x

A Christmassy Friday's post...

As this is the last Friday's post before Christmas I thought I would share the pics that have made me smile for Christmas.....

 Amy's three have donned their Christmas hats to say a happy Christmas to one and all.

Here are the twins wearing their Christmas jumpers to wish you all a very happy Christmas.

....and finally this gorgeous little puppy is the latest addition for Shell and Brent.  She is a little black Labradoodle and her name is Roxy....I can hear you all....awwwwwwwwwwwww.  She has obviously decided she has come to the best of homes 'cos she has settled in brilliantly.  Toilet training is going really well and the twins love her.

I hope you have enjoyed my happy Friday posts and they have brought a little happiness into your world.

I would now just like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hope that 2013 brings you all good health so you can enjoy the year ahead.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Here we are at the last Wednesday before the big day!!!  If you're not ready now then don't worry cos it will come and go without all the stress.  My last bit of crafting is on my desk to share with you today...

You will all have seen the little hand dumfed reindeer that I made last week.  As soon as I had made him Shell said she would love him to hang on her tree but I felt he was too big to go on a tree so I put Rudolph over in the blog shop, where he sold the same day and he is now happy in his new home down in Cornwall.  Of course I wouldn't let Shell down so I set to and made her a smaller version with a hanging loop :-)  ....cute or what?

Each year I try to make a new little something for each of my little Grandchildren to hang on their trees and this year I thought I'd make reindeer.  I made a paper pattern that I stitched round on the machine,  I cut these out and stuffed them and added antlers and a hanging loop.  A little heart shaped nose and a couple of beads for eyes and hey presto.  :-)

Easy peasy.

Now that just leaves me to wish each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas and to thank you for another wonderful year of love and support through the good times....and bad.  Let's hope 2013 comes with good health and much happiness for you all.

Hugs,

Annie x

Meet Ellie...

I have been having such fun making new feltie characters and thought you just might like to meet the one I have made during my Funday Monday with Jo.

This is Ellie.  I have been using some of that gorgeous new wool rovings that I bought a few weeks back from Sara at Crafts of Texture.  If you are a dumfer like me you really should try out Sara's wool rovings cos they felt up so beautifully.  I have really enjoyed making all of my latest little characters with it......of course I did have to spend some time stroking it first cos they were such yummy colours.  This does of course mean I just may be tempted to buy some more now....I popped over to her site earlier and I see she has lots more gorgeous new colours over there.

I have put Ellie on the feltie shelf over in our blog shop and she has been making friends with Huffle the baby dragon.  Please email me if you wanted to offer her a good home.

Hugs,

Annie x

My second Christmas angel has arrived....

I got home from shopping yesterday afternoon to find something very special waiting for me in my post box.  I had joined in the angel swap that Jo from Jozart had organised.  I swapped the first angel with Jo and the second one was kept a secret.  I have been waiting patiently not knowing where she was coming from and had really hoped she hadn't got lost in the post but yesterday my secret angel arrived.....it was well worth the wait too cos she had flown all the way from Slovenia  :-)  She is called Michaela and was made for me by Dolores [aka Cardarian].

Here she is with the gorgeous card Dolores has made too.  Thank you so much....I love her and she is even more special cos she is from a blogging friend from over the seas....Isn't this WOYWW group just wonderful?

Thanks must go to Julia for organising the group, to Jo for organising the swap and of course to Dolores for all the work she put in to making my angel so special.

Hugs,

Annie xxxx

Friday's smiles....

I have found a few snaps that have made me smile this week that I hope you will all enjoy.  I love how my little Grandchildren all look after each other.....

Phoebe is holding Louise's hand to keep her feeling safe while they go through the car wash!

The twins often hold hands but what you can't see here is that Lexi was really just trying to get hold of her brother's glove to give it a twang!!

They have their gloves on a piece of elastic through their coat sleeves so they don't lose them.

Some of you will remember Shell and Brent having two very tiny bundles in their stockings last year.......

....well, this year the twins have stockings of their own of course and think it is such fun to have their pic taken this now!!!  That is of course when they would sit still long enough.  :-)

I hope my snaps have made you smile today and you all have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

My love of Puppets...

Many years ago I was commissioned to make a set of 6 puppets for use with a puppet theatre....I ended up making 6 sets of these!....and that's when it started.....my love of puppets.  :-)

Since then I have designed many and over the years have made...

• Mr Oakley the farmer
• Mrs Oakley the farmer's wife
• Cassy the cow [1 available]
• Clive the clever clown
• Dotty the dog [1 available]
• Ellie the elephant
• Feed back Freddy the parrot
• Fire chief Charlie....used at the fire station for when children are involved
• Frog and toad
• Hatty the hen [2 available]
• Iggy the instruction iguana [2 available]....got to be my favourite.
• McPuppet....special design that travelled up to Scotland.
• Percy pig
• Polly parrot
• Reggie reindeer [1 available]
• Ruby rat
• Sherbet the sheep [1 available]

Many of these were designed for use as teaching aids.....I made many for Jo when she was a deputy head in a school up in Yorkshire and have made many for Michelle and Gina to use in their schools....and the children just love them of course.  The children respond so well to a 'talking' character and it is often possible to get the message across so much easier whilst using a puppet.  As you can see from the list there are a few in stock so if anyone fancies buying one in time for Christmas please email me.  I am happy to take special orders and will do my best but can't guarantee being able to make them in time for Christmas.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Another week has gone and we creep even closer to Christmas....Most of my cards are now made, written and sent  :-)  It's been a busy week of festivities too. 

15 of us went on the Llangollen Santa train on Saturday.  

You should be able to click on the pics for a closer look if you'd like to......happy memories were made :-)

I have also been busy sewing and crafting this week.

These are 3 of the 5 little mice I made this week that are already on their way to a new home in Belgium as I type.  :-)

Some of you gave me inspiration last week for a new feltie but I bet you have 'no eye deer' what this is  :-) :-) :-)

Of course you just knew it was a little reindeer didn't you?  Here he is finished and he is now sitting on the feltie shelf over in the shop waiting for a new home for Christmas.

The last pic I have to share with your today is of Rocky and Wispa with their new hair cuts....yes of course their cushions have now been put by the radiator cos since they had their trims the weather has turned very cold here....it was -3 here this morning and guess what?

....our central heating boiler started throwing out black smoke Monday afternoon so the heating had to go off til it's fixed!!! Brrrrrrr

Well folks that's all from me for today.  Hope you have enjoyed your visit and are all well and happy and looking forward to Christmas now.  If you leave me a comment I will pop over to say hello in between my sewing jobs.  Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x