Tag Archives: Christmas Decoration

Scandinavian Hearts

Can I call them Scandinavian Hearts if they are made in Norfolk? Well, it’s a style I suppose, and I’m not the only one doing it! I’ve just spent the best part off the day finishing off a collection of them for the craft stall, which is why we decided that despite the grey clouds and drizzle we were going off to the coast to blow a few cobwebs away, (in my case it was Merino fleece!)

I love the beach at this time of the year. It’s deserted and wild and when we came up over the top and out of the shelter of the dune the salt air hit us full in the face.

Very bracing, although actually not too cold. Higgins was in his element, it’s his favourite place for a run, and this time there was the added bonus of the sea whipping up into foam which flipped up into excited blobs which raced up the sand with Higgins in hot pursuit.

He also had a happy, and very brief moment with an orange balloon, (from Kent surprisingly, I said the wind was strong!) which Tim found in the rocks. It danced tantalizingly along in front of Higgins, but by the time I had switched the camera to movie mode the inevitable had happened and the balloon was no more.

But back to Scandinavian Hearts. This seems like a good moment to show you a magazine that arrived during the week with a Planet Penny mention, because it also features ‘Scandi’Style .

The mention is a link to the Planet Penny Crochet Bunting, in a Christmas bunting feature which has some other lovely ideas…

and the Scandinavian Hearts are made from red and white tea towels and are very pretty (and very similar to some I made a Christmas or two ago for my own tree)

But my hearts are needlefelted, and embellished with hand dyed yarn. I really like them just as they are here…

but I know people often prefer to know exactly what to do with them so they are finished off with a hanger and a ribbon bow to hang on a tree.

You will find details of the Craft Fair here, if you are in Norfolk over Half Term it would be lovely to see you. In the meantime do call over to Handmade Harbour for Handmade Monday.

I’ll be back soon…x

Seagulls…Robins…and a Small Sea Dog

Hello! It’s that time of the week again….doesn’t it come round quickly? If you spotted my mid week post about the Planet Penny Cotton crochet inspirations, you’ll know this post represents a very quick gear change to get back to needlefelting again to build up my flock of Robins.

I think I’m going to have set days for each to keep on top of things, oh to be disciplined and organised. I’ve a feeling I may left it a little late in the day to change, but I do try!

And I have been sloping off when the sun shines to keep a small dog happy. We went to our favourite Norfolk beach during the week…

So peaceful, and completely deserted, Just me, Higgins and the seagulls. Not even a seal this time.

Higgins had a great time…

love the little pink tongue!

Did I mention he’s on a healthy eating and fitness regime? The last weigh in at the vet’s pronounced him at the top end of his ideal weight window, so charging madly around the beach is just what the ‘doctor’ ordered. (It’s not doing me any harm either!)

And later, back in the studio, the flock of Robins keeps growing…

Robins great and small…

I have a lovely selection of rings, wreaths and hearts for my robins to sit on so that’s tomorrows job!

I’m battling with the internet at the moment, it’s running like very cold treacle, so I shall quit while I’m ahead and leave you with a link to this week’s Handmade Monday over at Handmade Harbour. Have a lovely week, I will be back soon….x

Planet Penny Cotton Colours

I’ve been feeling the need for a little colour fix just lately, of the rainbow cotton variety, to counter balance the Christmassy slant which my creativity has inevitable taken.

There’s no getting away from it, robins are basically shades of brown with red, and although it suits them very well, it doesn’t press all the buttons for me, colourwise. So off to the Planet Penny Cotton Colours shelves…

and POW!

… oooh, I feel better already!

What started as a very tentative foray into importing something from Europe which I couldn’t actually purchase in the UK is still going well, and I’ve had great feedback and repeat orders from people who have been so happy with not only the gorgeous colour range but the quality of the yarn. (If you are a new blog visitor you can find out the beginnings of the Planet Penny Cotton Colours yarn here and here)

There are only two areas where I feel I’m letting the side down, and the first only is completely out of my hands. It’s so expensive to ship outside the UK! I’ve pared down the packing to the minimum, (and the girls at my local Post Office are impressed that the parcels come in just below the point where the cost goes up to the next band!) so I do apologise to anyone who feels the shipping costs are high, and I really appreciate the loyal customers who buy despite the Royal Mail’s costs. In fact someone in Australia emailed to say she loved the yarn so much she would have paid double the postage rate!

And really the other area is out of my hands too, unless I can magic some extra hours in the day! I’d like to produce more patterns, but is a very time consuming affair … Coming up with the idea, making the item, writing the pattern, typing the pattern, then following the pattern whilst making it again to check it works, etc. etc. you get the picture…

So my plan is to research other peoples patterns, to find pretty ideas which can be made up in the beautiful Cotton Colours and then giving you the links to the websites to try them for yourselves. It also seemed like a cheerful thing to do as Winter approaches and nature makes things a bit dark and monotone. You’ll find plenty of inspiration too, if you visit me on Pinterest!

And this is the first pattern I found…

Aren’t they pretty? So easy, and compulsive to make. At this rate every one will be getting one for Christmas, including the boys!

This has been about for a while and appears to have originated on a Danish blog, but I found a great crochet blog called Hooked on Needles where there is an English version of the pattern

Check out the shop for the yarn and the patterns, and also for the new limited edition, Christmas Crochet Collection…

Which includes the PPCC ‘Snowdrop’ yarn, hook, buttons, ribbon and the pattern for the Christmas Crochet bunting featured in the Winter Simply Crochet magazine, and the heart and snowflake patterns to make tree ornaments or a garland.

And while I was looking for the links for this pattern I found another one…where are those extra hours in the day? I’ll be back with more ideas very soon…

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…

A Needlefelt Bird in the Hand….

…but a handful of baby birds is even better!

Guess who’s thinking ahead to C*******s! It’s alright, I won’t speak the word aloud!

I’ve been waiting for materials to arrive so I’ve switched to a different breed of bird, and trying out a different size too. Last C*******s I couldn’t keep up with the demand for needlefelt robins, I think it was the Kirsty effect, so I’m starting early year, although I find it really hard to think of Christmas in August, don’t you? (Whoops, sorry, it slipped out! )

The robins are now fluttering their way to the Planet Penny shop, and you can find them here, here and here..

I’ve been a little indulgent this week and treated myself. I said last week I couldn’t resist the little scented dachshunds, and so I had one made just for me by the lovely LouLou of Farrell and Holmes and these lovely parcels arrived a few days ago, smelling wonderful!

But I’d only ordered one thing!? And here it is, such pretty fabric…

and in the other one? A little present for me…

Thank you LouLou!

The weather this week has been beautiful, so no more thunderstorms much to Higgins relief but the lovely Mrs Micawber, who was very concerned about his well being, sent a link to something which might just solve his problems, not only with the storms, but with the fireworks which upset him so much. It’s a Thundershirt, and here he is modelling it!

The theory is that being wrapped snuggly calms dogs and makes then less stressed about loud noises and other worrying situations. Thank you so much Mrs Micawber, we’ll let you know whether it works when the weather breaks!

Well, it’s another short post as I must away to administer Clovis’s evening antibiotic on the other side of the village, I will get a lot more done when I don’t have to visit three times a day, it’s a good thing I love him! I’ll leave you with a link to Handmade Monday so you can visit lots of other lovely bloggers who have been creating little lovelies over the past week.

See you soon…x

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