Kittie Babies!

My friend is hand rearing kittens after they were found abandoned and no Mummy near by :(
She's doing this through the RSPCA
I had to go visit and my heart totally melted - like TOTALLY MELTED!

My Little Vintage - May Event

I havent attended events as a stall holder for so long I was really nervous when I booked this one with a friend of mine
We decided to give it a go, both of us with handmade, some vintage and upcycled items too!

This is me, I was trying to network more than anything and tell everyone about my little shop, hopefully a few more people now know where I am :)

This is my friend Libbys vintage wares

 For this event we booked a little shed so I made us some pretty granny bunting to decorate it, lots of lovely comments about it, more are in the making :)

 

The event was hosted by My Little Vintage, Julia does a grand job at arranging it all x We'll be back doing an event in July at a garden centre next time :) 

Ditsy Crochet Flower Garland

I've got some odds and ends of various wools that really need to be used up so I made some super cute ditsy crochet flowers, I experimented and made a few larger ones
I chained a long string from 100% cotton and stitched on my flowers back to back, so that it didnt matter what way the garland was lying you'd still see a cute flower

For the moment its found a home on our fireplace :) 

Patterns
Mini Flowers

Make 4 chain, ss to 1st to join
*ch1, (dc, tr, dc, ch1, ss) all into loop* - repeat from * to * 4 more times to make 5 petals
fasten off
Pattern from this book here

Medium Flowers

Using 2 colours of yarn
Purple yarn - make a magic loop, ch1, 8sc into ring, pull end of magic loop to close and fasten off

white yarn - insert hook into back loop with a ss
*ch3, ss into back of each of these 3chs, ss into next sc* repeat from * to * 7 times making 8 petals
work into base ss between petals 1 and 2
*sc, ch3, ss into back of each of these 3chs to base ch* repeat from * to * 7 more times
ss to centre and fasten off
Pattern from this book here

Large Flowers

Make a magic loop
sc 10 into loop, ss into 1st sc, then pull closed
*ch10, ss into same sc, ss into next sc* repeat from * to * 9 more times
*ch10, ss into back loop of sc, ss into next back loop of sc* repeat from * to * 9 more times
ss into centre, fasten off
Pattern  - my own by playing around

Sunday Smiles

Keeping in with the Alice theme, I've saved this quote on my Alice inspired pinterest board here

The Alice Theme...

I challenged the artisans that sell in my shop to create something with an 'Alice in Wonderland' theme which would have a fun display area all of its own and then to hold a late night shopping event the same evening which they were all invited along too

They came up trumps of course!

I also ordered some custom made playing card biscuits made by this local talented baker which I then bagged up and gave out as little gifts to customers

Dont you just love Alice...

Carrot Loaf!

I've used this recipe for years now and dont get bored of it at all, I love the throw everything in the bowl attitude to it

Carrot Cake/Muffins/Loaf (however you want to create this beauty is up to you)
8oz Self Raising Flour
2tsp baking powder
5oz light brown sugar
5oz grated carrots
I mashed banana (if you have one)
2 eggs
5 floz sunflower oil
2oz chopped walnuts (I personally dont add these as I dont like to many walnuts)

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, make sure its all combined well and place in your desired cake/muffin/loaf tin
Baking time will vary according to cake/muffin/loaf tin
Once skewer pulls out clean leave to cool slightly in the tin and then cool entirely on a wire rack

Frosting
6oz soft cheese (like philly)
2oz soft butter
4oz sifted icing sugar
3 drops vanilla essence

Mix all ingredients together
Spread over your cooled cake
Decorate with walnuts

All of my favourite cake bakes pudding recipes are in this upcycled journal which was a christmas gift from my lovely friend

I got the original recipe from this blog here

Crochet Update

A peek at what i'm working in ...

Bank Holiday Goings On...

Gardening

 Icecream eating!

 Enjoying quality family time

 Sorting out rooms with new furniture

A much needed break to relax, cuddle up and watch movies, garden in the sunshine and catch up with jobs here there and everywhere

Oatmeal Raspberry Bars

I found this lovely recipe here but due to wanting to make it that very second and not having any coconut in the cupboard I opted that out of the equation

Recipe
1 1/4 cup of plain flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup oats
raspberry jam

put flour, sugar & salt in a mixer, add butter, blend until it forms a dough 
transfer to a bowl and knead in the oats 
Reserve 3/4 cup of the dough 
press the rest of the dough into a sq baking pan (lined with greaseproof paper)
spread jam over the top 
crumble reserved dough over the top of the jam
 I also sprinkled on some cinnamon sugar that I'd made previously

bake 180 for 20 mins
cool totally in the pan
then cut into breakfast size bars and enjoy

Omgoodness these bars were gorgeous, really simple to make, but you can make so many different flavours with the basic recipe :) 
Original recipe found here

Sunday Smiles

Frozen Fan

I'm sure we all have a frozen fan in our homes at the moment!
Heres mine

Introduction to my sewing machine! Near on disaster!

It could honestly only happen to me!
I booked myself on the course 'Introduction to your sewing machine' run by a lovely friend Lindsay from Evajeanie
I have a brother sewing machine which is second hand and couple of years old but is great, well it decided not to play, so it will be sent off for a much needed service, which I suppose I should have done that in the first place!
Then to top it off I have a vintage Jones sewing machine, I got this purely as an impulse as its blue! (and I HAD to have a blue vintage sewing machine!!!) well that was worse!

Luckily though, Lindsay had her sewing machine and we coped just fine
I learnt a few things about my brother that I didnt realise, like cleaning and threading it properly
I learnt placing fabrics together and that I can sew in a straight line!
The end result has been this lovely Zakka style pin cushion

I can see many more been made as I throughly enjoyed it

I really enjoyed my time and can see me booking myself on more of Lindsays courses

If your local to Kettering, Northamptonshire, keep an eye on the Evajeanie Facebook page here for more courses available

The Budget Filer!

Nowadays its really difficult to budget and after seeing an idea online I asked my friend if she could create something similar for me (as usual payment was a crafting trade off! which is great)
I asked for a fabric booklet with pockets which could contain money which would act as a budget file!
I gave her the fabrics (after it took us so long to choose what went with what!) She set about and came up with this, which is just fantastic

The pockets are really good size so it they can contain notes of paper too, they fold over and velcro close so nothing can fall out and the tapes are so I can write what pocket is budgeting for what!
Its just what I was looking for and more
Thank you so much Lorna your a star, although she did say it was most certainly a one off! :)