Crochet

I thought I would update you with my crochet.  Back in August 2010 I bought some Rowan wool from Liberty in London : -http://allotmentheavencraftsandrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/08/ive-been-to-libertys.html

Well I haven't been doing very much crocheting recently so the squares are coming along very slowly. I have made these so far. Luckily I am only making a cushion cover, so I don't need to do many more to finish it.

The colours don't look great in these photo's as the light is so bad during the day. I should have taken them outside for a true colour.

I have also been working on some new cards. Just simple little cards with  pretty tiny floral background paper, or stamped dotty backgrounds, torn mulberry paper heart, pretty Indian ribbon on green mulberry paper, and hand painted watercolour beach huts, with a little bunting. I never tire of card making and always seem to be on a roll for ideas late at night (unfortunately !) this seems to be my most creative time.

Painting Pebbles

My little grandson has ( like myself )  a passion for seashells and pebbles. He always likes to play with my collection of them which are dotted around in various places inside the house, in the garden and in our Summerhouse. So I decided to paint one for him as a keepsake that perhaps when older he can even use as a paperweight.  Below is the finished result. I coated it with a varnish to keep in the colours last night.

The painting isn't terribly good, so keeping the picture childlike is a good excuse for not trying harder. It is actually quite hard to paint on such a small scale, although the pebble isn't that small, but it's still difficult, (for me anyway)  On the back I wrote a little message which is a family joke now ! as whenever I ask Bertie how much he loves me his answer was always £15,( it's gone up a bit now !!!)  ha ha,  and I would reply well I love you millions AND £15.  In case you are wondering who MoMa is it's me ! that's how he said it when he was smaller (he's 3 now) he couldn't say Grandma, so we left it at that as it saves complications with his other Grandma, as neither of us wanted to be called Nanny or Nana.

Now I have to paint one for his little sister Florence, can't do one without the other.  I thought perhaps a little house with a picket fence and a few flowers and of course the bunting and maybe some stars. It's quite addictive !
M xx

Covered Boxes and Christmas Hearts

Yesterday I spent a couple of pleasant hours covering a nest of boxes that I bought from a craft shop. I covered them  with some 'Orla Kiely' paper that I bought recently.  I had also bought a box that was already covered with another of Orla's designs. I love her small designs. The box already covered was rather expensive, but I HAD to have it.   Then I spotted that the shop sold small rolls of paper in different Orla Kiely designs, so I bought a sheet with covering my own boxes in mind. When I got it home I was delighted to find that the paper had a small design on one side and a larger different design on the other. So here are the finished boxes which will look very smart on some shelves in my study/craft room.

My Friend Pam over at 'Hortensia' has also been covering a Pringle carton with some lovely paper from 'Paperchase' and it look good.



The little box on the top is the one I bought covered, I love the design




Christmas Heart's

 I thought I should start adding a little bit of festive bling around the house seeing as we are now into December.  I decide to string these little glass hearts along the mantelpiece, I bought them a few weeks ago, I just loved the colours as they remind me of Indian decorations, so colourful.  They glitter and shine when the candles are lit in the hearth beneath them and look stunning.

 

I haven't had a Christmas tree for some years now as I only like real ones and they are so expensive and then get thrown out after a few weeks, so I have had willow twigs in a large pot and decorated with fairy lights and a collection of 'little folk' that I have been adding to over the years.  Unfortunately my willow twig tree was past it's best after being in the house for a number of years all year, with the fairy lights on, so it became very brittle and was thrown out a few months ago.  I now have to source some more willow twigs for my 'little folk'. Here's a couple of photo's from last year.

The Finished bag

Well I managed to stick to my hour a day finishing one thing off at a time, and although I did go over the hour the bag is now finished. It's not perfect and I did say it will look a little 'homespun' but Florence is only 21 months so I'm sure she wont notice the faults !!!! such as  the little quilted Angel is a bit squiffy, and also I should have embroidered the F and the E in a brighter colour as it doesn't show up too well in the greeny- blue, anyway I am generally pleased with it.   NOW onto the next project tomorrow, the crochet squares.

Sorry there are so many photo's, but I couldn't decide which ones showed it off to it's best advantage.

Crafty

I thought I would share my recent crafty moments with you. I haven't been able to concentrate for long periods recently as I seem to have so many things that I need to / want to do that it all overwhelms me and I end up doing very little in the way of actually finishing something.  However I have given myself a good talking to !!!! and decided that I will do one task each day for at least an hour at a time, that way the plan is I get a bit of progress and actually finish some things eventually ! anyway here is a few things on the go :

The only square that I have managed to crochet so far with the new Rowan wool

A little bag that I am working on for Florence

Hand embroidered name detail

A little hand quilted and beaded Angel for the front of the bag

 I will show the finished bag as soon as I have completed it. The dotty fabric is to line the bag and for the handles, it should look very girly and have a 'homespun' look to it when finished. I've no pattern and have made it up as I go along, which has probably made the whole project take longer.

Some new fabric ( fat quarter) and some yummy coloured threads

No plans on what to do with these yet, but I just had to have them.

Curried squash, parsnip and courgette soup.

INGREDIENTS
* 4 small munchkin squashes or something similar like ‘hooligan’
(a medium sized squash of any kind could be used instead)

* One large red onion (white will do)
* Two small courgettes
* One medium Parsnip
* Curry spices or powder (to taste) I used Schwartz Madras curry spices.
* Vegetable stock

METHOD
* Cut the little squashes in half, scoop out all of the seeds. Brush with oil (I used Olive oil)

Roast the squash in a pan in the oven at 190 c, gas mark 5 for around 30 mins (roughly) until flesh is soft. (check by sticking a knife in the skin) When cooled scoop out the flesh from the skins and you should have a lovely mash, don’t worry if it’s not as it will reduce anyway in the soup.
(Roasting the squash can be done the day before or earlier on to save time.)
* Peel and slice the onion, and in a large pan fry it in the oil until soft and slightly coloured.

* Peel the parsnip and cut into little chunks, add to the onions.

* Add the mashed squash to the onions and parsnip.

* wash and dice the courgettes and add to the pan

* Add hot water to make as much soup as you require, making sure all the ingredients are well covered, but you don’t want the soup to runny.

* Add the stock cube, I used Knorr vegetable stock pot, I sometimes use ‘Kallo’ organic stock cubes.
* Season with ground black pepper (add salt after cooking) and a teaspoon of curry spices or a curry powder of your choice (add sparingly until you check for flavour)

* Making sure you have enough water to cover, bring to the boil and then simmer until all the vegetables are cooked and very soft.

* The soup can be part blended when cooled, leaving some nice veggie bits in the soup. Adding the blended half back in, stir thoroughly and check for seasoning, adding salt if necessary.

In our house we prefer our soup to be thick and full of veggie bits, so I used a potato masher instead of half blending, but this is a personal preference.

I had fun making this recipe up and it was so delicious that I decided to write it down (as I always forget my little experiments) and pass it on, I hope you enjoy it.

Wet Felting

I said I would do this post on wet felting in answer to a question  from Lou who ask me what did I do with the felt I made ? so here is my felt and the items I have been making. Originally this venture into wet felting was going to be a joint learning project with Kella, but she is a busy woman, so I have just got on and taught myself bits here and there.  The summer months stopped me doing any felting as the allotment and garden took over my life as it does !! so now I look forward to doing my crafts once again in the coming months.

By the way is anyone else finding that Blogger is sooooo slow today ? I am typing away and nothing appears and then suddenly blogger catches up. Also it took almost an hour to upload these photo's it's very frustrating !!!!

Starting with all these lovely wool-tops I then go on to make the felt, usually I like to marble
colours together, especially bright colours.

A little bag in the making

some felt I made

Flowers ready for brooches or bags

Brooches

A small purse in production

I love zingy colours together.