Category Archives: Christmas

Christmas Crochet for Handmade Monday

I sincerely apologise to those of you who find it hard to think about Christmas in September, but I’m afraid those of us who hand craft seasonal bits and pieces have to start early or we run out of time! I could really do with an extra pair of hands, as I haven’t yet worked out a way of crocheting whilst needlefelting! I’m back with the crochet hook at the moment because I have just had a new delivery of Planet Penny Cotton Club yarn, and this time I have just a few packs with Christmas crochet in mind, lovely Snowdrop.

It’s perfect for the Crochet Christmas Bunting in the tutorial here, which is featured in a magazine published in a few days time, Simply Crochet.

I’ve been experimenting with my own ball of ‘Snowdrop’ to come up with a couple more patterns to use this lovely yarn. Would you like to see? There are crochet snow flakes…

…and crochet Hearts…

and Snowflakes and Hearts…

Christmas Crochet Packs of yarn, crochet hook, buttons and patterns will be available in the next few days in the Etsy shop…

Re-assuming my needlefelting hat, I discovered a fragment of old lace in a box the other day (you see how I’ve benefited from all that boring tidying up I’ve been doing?) and combined it with a new twig heart. I had been a little wary of it, because the wire shaping was so noticeable, (I presume it was made with florists in mind) but I’d raided my Mother-of-Pearl button box and it made all the difference…

And there was still that last dyed top to transform…Remember this?

A rather uninspiring blue/grey… But then I remembered some beautiful binding I bought in France over two years ago…

(… it was lovely to revisit the occasion on Planet Penny via this post – blogging is a wonderful thing!) and with some matching buttons came up with something which I am very happy to have in my wardrobe…

(The camera is lying about the blueness of the dye, BTW!)

There will be a short ‘break in transmission’ over the next week or so as I’m going to be away. Excitingly, I’ve been invited to a book launch in London on Wednesday for Buttonbag’s new craft book, closely followed by a trip to the South Coast to visit the family so there will be lots to tell you about when I’m here again (note to self: charge the camera battery!)

I’ll leave you now with the usual link to Handmade Monday over on Wendy’s Handmade Harbour. Have a lovely week and I’ll be back before long…

Reasons to be Cheerful – Week 10

Hello, and a very happy 2012 to you! Have you taken down the decorations yet, or are you waiting till Twelfth Night? I must admit to taking mine down after New Year’s Day. The tree was in the window, right in front of Higgins’ look out point and I got fed up with things being swept off by a waggy tail and then secreted behind the sofa to be dismantled. (I got my own back when he stole a cracker, put a paw on one end and then delicately tried to remove the interesting long thin piece of card poking out of the middle… BANG!!! Gosh, I didn’t know he could jump quite that high!)

I find the first week of the New Year a bit strange…I end up a bit like Higgins trying to settle in a newly washed bed, I seem to spend a lot of time shuffling and scrabbling trying to make it all the right shape.

We definitely need a bit of cheerfulness with this awful weather, I hope you haven’t been swept away in this wind, or suffered power cuts or cancelled travel arrangements. I feel for Tim, who is stuck in the middle of the North Sea at the moment, I’m just glad that he’s on something with it’s legs firmly planted on the bottom of the sea…

Higgins has been to the sea, he went with his Boy…

He really loved having his Boy to stay over Christmas and probably the Christmas tree incidents were down to the fact that the Boy went home and left him feeling very bored.

I removed all the holly, which had more berries this year than I had ever seen before and hung it with the mistletoe in the cherry trees so the birds could polish off the berries…

Something which made me very happy was a crafty Christmas pressie from my friend Kit, who knows how much I like stationery…

But the best bit was the bit Kit painted herself…

How on earth am I actually going to use those labels…and part with them?

I’ve been shopping on Ebay…

…and talking of buttons, how about this for a Christmas present?

I’ve got so many possible crafty bits of inspiration all I’ve got to do is actually decide what I’m going to do next!

So what are your Reasons to be Cheerful in this first week of 2012? Do join in, either through the Linky below, or via the comments, it’s lovely to find out what every one is doing to get through the gloomiest wintery bit. And if you are in the southern Hemisphere, your sunshiny, Springy bits are most welcome!

See you soon! xxx

2011 – A Year in Pictures

It’s the end of the year, so I thought I’d do a recap. It’s been very interesting trawling through the archives and seeing how things have developed over the months and I thought I would share the experience…

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

It’s already giving me lots of new ideas for the next twelve months, so I hope you’ll drop in again to see how it’s going! In the meantime, I wish you all a very Happy New Year, where ever you are….see you in 2012! xxx
http://youtu.be/QEVF0fah17k

Winter Solstice – The Turn of the Year

We’ve been celebrating Winter Solstice for several years now, it seems a much more relevant date to remember, Mother Nature herself is swinging the New Year into action, rather than being dictated to by a man-made calendar. We get together with friends to eat and drink, it usually centres around a big game stew, and look ahead to the Spring and new beginnings. And when it’s over there is still Christmas to look forward to!

Things are just building up here. Our daughter is home from Uni, elder son and family arrive tomorrow and younger son will be with us on the big day. It’s a real and rare treat to have all the family under one roof. So as Planet Penny will be a little hectic for a while, I will take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry, happy and peaceful Christmas. Thanks to everyone who has left comments, or emailed me over the year. I may not have time to answer each and every one, but I read everything, and love to hear from you.

I’m looking forward to new things for 2012, I hope you’ll come along and join in the fun! And I do intend to share my recipe for the accidentally amazing Winter Solstice cake which I snatched from the jaws of disaster (but which has now succumbed to jaws of a different kind!)

HAPPY CHRISTMAS! see you soon xxx

Paper Chains on Handmade Monday

I’ve had a dis-AAA-ster! My camera’s packed up! It’s like having my left hand tied behind my back (and I am left handed) I think I’ve probably worn it out, I’ve used it nearly every day for 13 months. Anyway, it’s off to the repairers, but that won’t happen till after Christmas, and I’ve ended up trying to get stills off my little Flip video camera, and they’re not up to much. So I can’t show you a lot today, but in the spirit of Handmade Monday, I’ll do my best.

Do you remember this, which I brought home from the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally?

Wel,l when I had a sudden urge to make paper chains, Origami paper seemed to the answer. I bought a multicoloured pack in Hobbycraft, 5 7/8″ square, divided each square into 6 strips and set to work with the Pritt stick and Hey Presto! paper chains to match the Origami Ball!

We still haven’t got the Christmas tree up, every time we try it snows and sleets and makes it wet again! I think we’re going to bring it into the utility room tonight to dry off, or we’ll never get it decorated. Hopefully I can find a way of sharing it with you before the big day.

If you call over at 1st Unique Gifts you’ll find all the other crafty people, busy with their Christmas makes and linking up for Handmade Monday.

See you soonxx

Planet Penny

Crafts, Needle Felting, Crochet, Patterns & Tutorials