Seeing the Light….

After the unrelenting gloom of the Winter which went on and on and depressed everyone’s spirits, I’m still finding the light, bright days we are enjoying a novelty, aren’t you? I don’t think it’s been quite as hot here in Norfolk as some other places but the warmth and sunshine is glorious, and I refuse to complain about being too hot! With my fair English skin I’m not one to sit or lie in the sun but give me a umbrella or a shady tree where I can sit and look out at the bright sun light and I’m very happy. Throw in a good book and a long cold drink and I’m in heaven!

Over last Winter in particular I struggled with a) having good enough light to work by and b) and this was even more frustrating, having light which was good enough to take photographs. I kept coming across other bloggers complaining about the same thing and it’s so essential to have great pictures on your blog.

In view of all this I was really pleased to be asked to try out and review a Lamp from the Daylight Company. They have a great choice of different lamps but the one which suited me best was the Swan Table lamp. It’s portable enough to move to various locations, the studio, the sofa, the dining table etc. but has a sturdy weighted base making it really stable and secure.

Swan Table Lamp

Until I sat it alongside the standard lamp that I usually stitch by I hadn’t realised how yellow the light it gave was, and how it distorted the colours I was using. This probably explains why I very often go to bed with gritty eyes and a niggling headache, because I am very bad at sitting without making, in common with all my creative friends out there, I’m sure!

standard electric light

But what I hadn’t even though of was the fact that I could actually use the light from the Daylight Lamp to take reasonable photographs which don’t require tweaking in Photoshop with levels and filters to make them halfway acceptable to post online, a huge benefit.

Daylight lamp light

So it’s great to not only have the chance to thoroughly recommend the Daylight Lamps but, also…be able to offer one lucky person the chance to win their own lamp! As the end of the summer approaches and the days get shorter they will be all set up for crafting into the winter.

I’m really excited about being able to offer this fantastic prize, the most valuable ever on Planet Penny!

All you have to do is to leave a comment to be in with a chance. How would a Daylight Lamp make life easier for you? If you want more chances then signing up to follow the blog or follow Planet Penny on Facebook or Pinterest and letting me know in that comment will put your name in the draw more times but it’s really up to you. I don’t want to make it complicated, I just want one of you to be lucky!

The draw will remain open until 31st August and then I’ll use the Random Number Generator to pick the winner. I can’t wait to hear from you!

See you soon …x

Ed. to add 31st July 2013 : DRAW NOW CLOSED

Planet Penny Bakery

Just a little post to tell you about the Planet Penny Bakery which is happening next weekend at Arts Desire in Norwich. The Craft Lounge at Arts Desire is hosting a workshop next Saturday morning between 10.30 and 1pm where I will teaching how to create these low calorie, high fibre cupcakes. A plateful of these little fancies would look so cute on a dresser full of eclectic vintage china, and they make great pincushions!

There are still a few places on the course. It would be lovely to have you along to learn a fascinating skill which once mastered will open the door on all sorts of projects. The only limit is your imagination! If you don’t live near enough but have friends in the area, please spread the word…

Don’t forget to come back and visit very soon because I have such a great giveaway coming up!

I’ve always enjoyed finding gadgets, books, patterns etc I can recommend via the blog. These days I get approached to write and host reviews. This is very flattering, but I value my relationship with all of you far too much to want to turn my personal space on Planet Penny into advertising space for random ‘Stuff’. (Believe me, some of the ‘Stuff’ I’ve been approached about is extremely random! )

So I’ve got something fab to tell you about, and then I’ll be giving you a chance to win one of your very own…Can’t wait? Well, come back tomorrow to find out…

See you then…x

P.S. This week I’m linking up with Handmade Monday so do call over and catch up with all the crafty goings on!

Knitted Rainbow Mouse Pattern

The Knitted Rainbow Mouse Pattern is finally finished! What a labour of love…

Thank you so much for the get well messages after my last post, I’m definitely on the mend. However it’s been a bit like swimming through treacle what with the duff neck then dental problems, antibiotics and feeling weird – you know what penicillin can be like. And I changed my computer and this bit wouldn’t talk to that bit and files disappeared into the ether and then reappeared in a different format….eeeeek….my eyeballs ended up spinning in contra rotating circles while steam came out my ears.

And knitting in every available moment to make a new little mouse in every one of the Planet Penny colours too, Aubretia, Delphinium, Cornflower, Eggshell, Aqua, Jade, Apple, Lime, Buttercup, Marigold, Peach, Petal, Gerbera and Rose Red, I can recite them in my sleep!

But here they are at last…

The knitted Rainbow Mice work just as well on the Rainbow Ring as the crochet ones I think…

And round the clock…

…so if you’ve been waiting patiently for a chance to knit some mice you’ll be pleased to know the pattern is now available on Etsy, right here along with the yarn.

Higgins has been feeling rather neglected, so lonely he’s joined me in the office and is being very helpful!

He’s not impressed that ‘The Boss’ is away at work so there’s only me for entertainment.

We’ve been getting out in the garden whenever possible, you’ve got to stop to smell the roses haven’t you? After a long wait they’ve been SO gorgeous this year. This is ‘Albertine’, which clambers up the front wall and cascades around the bedroom window…

It’s wonderful, and would be perfect if it was a repeat flowerer, As it is we just have to savour it for the brief weeks when it look like this…

It’s in memory of my granny, the closest I could get to her name, Alberta.

And this is ‘Dancing Queen’, now scrambling up the studio and always reminding me of my daughter, who was dancing before she could walk!

And this beauty is ‘Eden Rose’, very spectacular and lasts well when picked so is perfect in a flower arrangement…

…and this one? I’ve lost the label! So annoying, but it’s got the most heavenly scent of all.

It’s not all work on Planet Penny!

And finally…there’s another giveaway coming very shortly, a fantastic and valuable prize which I can’t wait to share with you! So watch this space, sign up to follow the blog, find me on Facebook or Twitter because you really won’t want to miss it!

See you soon…x

Happy Birthday, Higgins!

Oh dear..I’m sorry to have been away so long! I’ve been working hard on the ‘next big thing’ and there just haven’t been enough hours in the day.

But Higgins! It was his birthday this week. I can’t believe it’s nearly four years since we brought home this tiny bundle of black and tan trouble…

(You can see more cute photos in the 2009/2010 archives)

He was calling the shots right from the start! I tried very hard to get him in the party spirit for his birthday photo but you can tell, he really didn’t like wearing a hat, party or not!

He’s already eaten all the squeaks out of his birthday presents too, but he had fun doing it!

And coincidently I had a Higgins related present this morning which I’d like to share with you. You’ll remember from this post I had a needlefelting workshop at the Art’s Desire Craft Lounge making little fantasy birds, and one of the participants was Willow, half of Farrell and Holmes who make beautiful things like this…

Will had such a good time learning to needlefelt I don’t think she’s stopped since, and this morning I received a card…

and a mysterious little package…

In which I found..

..this gorgeous little mirror!

Now while I’m pretty sure Higgins would love to sit and gaze at his own reflection I’m sorry, it’s going in my handbag! Thank you, Will!

I’m off to do some photography now. Remember I was working on the Knitted Mouse Pattern? Well I’m nearly there and plan to launch it this weekend. If you are one of those frustrated non-crochet-ers who have been begging for a knitting pattern there not much longer to wait, I promise. All fourteen of the new knitted Rainbow Mice are lining up to show off their best profiles for the camera right now.

I’ll be back soon….!

A Pain in the Neck!

If it’s been a bit quiet on Planet Penny the last few days it’s because its all been a bit of a pain in the neck…quite literally! I don’t know how it’s possible to lock one’s neck up completely just turning on the pillow to look at the alarm clock but that’s what I did, very effectively. So my midweek post got delayed, and now I’m back in the chair with strict instructions from Lara, my amazing chiropractor, to set an alarm and step away from the computer every 20 minutes….

Which is quite tricky…

I was mobile enough to take the second Needlefelt Workshop yesterday at Arts Desire and like the first one it was great fun.

It’s always fun to see the different interpretations of the same basic skill when we all get together, last week we had these little chaps (spot the bumble bee!)…

…and yesterday these little feathered friends were born…

The Craft Lounge at Arts Desire is proving a great venue for these workshops and I’m looking forward to the 27th July and the Planet Penny Bakery when we will be needlefelting lots of low calorie high fibre treats! If you are interested in joining us you can find out more right here…

Meanwhile, I have been responding to many requests for a Rainbow Mouse knitting pattern for all those who don’t crochet and I’ve come up with this little fellow…

and introduced him to his crochet chums…

What do you think? As soon as I feel happy with the design it will be available alongside the crochet Mouse pattern via the Etsy shop…

He seems to be looking very much at home..

And the sun is shining! The creaky neck has put paid to much gardening, but my lovely son has been over and planted my Sarah Raven Sweet Peas. It’s a super scented collection of white, blue and deep pink …

…and I just can’t wait to pick my first bunch and fill the house with their scent.

I don’t think I’ve shown you my Planet Penny Cotton garden project! It seems a bit mad, but so far has withstood the weather really well…

A possible tutorial? Let me know what you think…

And now, because the sun is still shining and it’s heading towards being the hottest day of the year so far, I shall take my basket of yarn and the embryo mouse pattern into the garden and enjoy the rest of my Sunday, knitting under the cherry trees.

I hope you enjoy your Sunday too!

See you soon…x

The Knitters Mobile

Do you remember the Knitters Mobile? Back in February I returned to the Knitters Christmas decorations I made for the Advent Calendar in the run up to last Christmas…

…and decided to make a mobile. I knitted some tiny bunting to go round a wooden hoop, suspended all the little balls made with the Planet Penny rainbow colours and ‘Hey Presto’, a Mobile!

It’s been hanging around quite literally, for a while and was a source of amusement during Open Studios but over the last few days it made an appearance on the Loveknitting Facebook Page which has sparked a fresh wave of interest. Planet Penny yarn is perfect not just for crochet but knitting too so a pattern to reflect this is well overdue. The Knitters Mobile requires minimal knitting but is a fun project to start off with. I have written a set of instructions and you can download them here, for free.

(Ed. to add: due to a few Facebook comments about sharp pointy things I would like to point out – This is a decorative piece for a craft room. It is NOT a toy, it is NOT intended to hang in a crib, it is for the enjoyment of adults, not children!)

I still have a fancy for a lampshade with these hanging all round the edge, wouldn’t they make wonderful shadows?

There have also been requests for a kit. I am thinking of perhaps a pack containing all the materials necessary to make the mobile which could be bought along with Planet Penny Crafty Cotton Pack. Would love some feedback on this idea, especially from those of you have bought the cotton already!

And finally, I’ve cracked the challenge of a knitted version of the Crochet Rainbow Mice! The Knitted Rainbow Mice Pattern is now available from the Etsy shop as an instant download, as are all the other patterns…

Enjoy your week, I’ll be back soon…x