Tag Archives: dachshund

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

Bexhill, Hastings…and a little bit of knitting!

After last week’s London adventure you’d think I’d retire for a rest, but no… the very next day we were packing the car to set off to the South Coast for a couple of days in the Bexhill/Hastings area staying with elder son and family. It was an eventful start. While I was away Higgins had tried out his ‘Super-Dog’ impression, leaping off the arm of the chair shouting at a passing jogger and landing painfully hard on his little stumpy legs and pulling a muscle. This involved a trip to the vet before we set out, a rigorous examination to check nothing desperate had been done, and instructions to make sure Higgins took things easy, and No Running About…

What? We were on our way to stay with his favourite little boys, who live in a house with a garden full of squirrels….

After a long day driving, Friday is not a good day to travel, Higgins had had the equivalent of 24 hours bed rest and was even less likely to do what the doctor ordered when he arrived, but a lot of effort was put into nursing care…

We had a peaceful morning on Saturday, with a spot of craftiness…

and a trip to the park in the afternoon…

but the next day it was pouring…

Not a day for the beach for anyone.

We spent the morning with a little bit of knitting…

you just see how helpful Higgins was being!

In the afternoon however, we donned waterproofs and headed to Hastings…

I love the area around Rock a Nore in Hastings with it’s strange black fishing huts, and despite the rain found Claire Fletcher‘s great little studio opened for the afternoon full of beautiful bits and pieces, and one I had only that morning been reading about in a copy of Coast magazine…

When the big black doors in the photo are opened, you see this!

After a little wander around in the teeth of the wind and rain…

….we reached the Jerwood Gallery which I’ve wanted to visit since it opened.

It’s an amazing exhibition space, and although it is controversially built next to the fishing area of Hastings on The Stade , the sympathetic design means it sits comfortably alongside the black sheds. Inside, the large plain windows frame the surrounding views, making the town part of the exhibition…

I now wear the badge I bought in Claire’s Studio with pride!

And I did manage a little bit of creativity of my own…You don’t think I went away without my knitting did you? Unable to find the pattern I made my fingerless mitts from a couple of years ago (if you remember, Higgins ate them!) I devised a new pattern of my own. Very simple, (and I could knit in the car too, obviously not while driving!)

but with lots of scope for embellishment…

…and so good I made them twice!

I’ve written the pattern, and it’s available for free here, if you’d like to make some too.

So I’ll leave you for now with the link to Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour, and I’ll be back soon…x

Silent Sunday

A Pinboard for a New Term…

I don’t think it matters how long ago it is since you left school, the approach of September always feels much more like the beginning of a new year than the actual one in dreary old January! And it’s so much more full of hope and possibility, we could have an ‘Indian Summer’ to make up for the lack of a British one, the evenings are still light, and it just feels like an optimistic new start. So this has been a good time to get my little office up and running efficiently with pinboards, graphs and flow charts (pause to snort with derisive laughter!) and slowly, slowly get on top of the teetering piles of paperwork. It also means I can reclaim the studio space from being a dumping ground/spare room (thank goodness it was only Tim and I trying to shoehorn ourselves into the sofa bed!) It now looks too tidy to use, even Higgins is surprised…

…and here it is, I had to record it because it won’t last!

and in this one you can see the office at the end, it’s not ready for close inspection yet!

You might have noticed the old pinboard in the first photo, so full of stuff which had been there forever.

Very uninspiring, and in need of a makeover to celebrate the new look. It was even more uninspiring once I’d taken off all the tatty bits and pieces…

You can see just how long some things had languished there by the interesting shadow effects!

So this is how the transformation took place, a quick and easy project as it only took a couple of hours. All it took was some grey emulsion paint, I used a sample pot, and some white, I had plenty around as we’d been painting the studio. Fabric and Bondaweb the size of the board, ribbon and glue and a few buttons.

After giving the board a wipe I painted the frame with the grey emulsion…

Once it dried I gave it a coat of white. It doesn’t have to cover completely, just make sure that the brush strokes follow the shape of the frame. Once it was dry I sanded it lightly to reveal some of the grey undercoat and polished it with beeswax.

I then cut a piece of Bondaweb to the size of the cork area of the pinboard and ironed to the back of my chosen fabric, in this case some jolly red and pink spotty Ikea fabric, peeled off the back of the Bondaweb and ironed the fabric directly on to the cork area…