WOYWW - treasure hunt

It's just a quick post this Wednesday as I'm up to my ears in packing for our Cornwall holiday. I've not been very busy with my sewing this week so here's a whistle-stop tour of my workdesk...

The little man's first birthday is looming large just a few weeks away so I'm working on a birthday picture. His birthday teaparty will be hungry caterpillar themed and I plan to use photographs of the finished picture for the invitations he'll send to his twelve little friends. If it's any good when I've finished it I might frame the picture for his wall.

Also on my workdesk is the finished 'treasure hunt' toy I've made to occupy Ben on the ride down to Cornwall.

I've used some clear plastic (like table cloth) to make a little pouch which I filled with plastic pellets and ten little charms including a ladybird, butterfly and duck. Ben is getting good at recognising and pointing to 'red spotty ladybird' in his favourite books so hopefully he'll enjoy hunting for it in this toy too.

So it's been a frenzy of last minute packing for me, but we've not all been so busy. I think someone has already got into the holiday spirit with a bit of 'mañana' time...

That's all for now folks...I must get on with scaling the Mont Blanc of ironing! I'll try to drop by some desks at nap time and catch up with some of the lovely crafters via Julia's Stamping Ground :-)

Happy crafting x

WOYWW - busy book grand finale!

Morning all, and welcome to my What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday post!

The last week has involved much grumbling (and some swearing tut, tut) in pursuit of a finished busy book. The primary cause...bias binding. I decided it would give a professional finish to edge each busy book page with bias binding but soon discovered that my enthusiasm exceeded my skill! Undeterred I battled on and, after burning the midnight oil last night, I have finally finished my busy book project.

The busy book, entitled 'Ben's Jungle' is the star of the show on my workdesk this week...

I'm really pleased with how it has turned out. Each page will offer Ben something different to fiddle with and every one incorporates an activity which will grow with him too. Hopefully hours of fun will be had.

I couldn't leave the book anonymous so I stitched a little maker's mark on the back! The last innovation to be added to the book was a bookmark. We happened to notice that Ben was very interested in the ribbon bookmark on my Husband's A4 work diary so I thought it would be nice to incorporate one in Ben's busy book so he could be like Daddy.

A massive thanks goes to mum (a.k.a. Twiglet) for keeping Ben occupied while I've whirred away on the sewing machine, not to mention her technical advice!

Also on my workdesk this week is my ideas book with... yes you guessed it, my plans for the next busy book. Glutton for punishment perhaps!

I've collected together all my nautical bits and bobs and have found a cute little bear that my Aunty Annie (a.k.a. Wipso) made for me some years ago. The busy book will be called 'Bear at the Beach' (not to be confused with 'Bare at the Beach', a naturist's guide to the coast tehehe...) and will see the little bear doing lots of seaside activities. Watch this space!

On the subject of the seaside, I'm taking Ben to the Welsh coast today with my best friend so will stop by a few workdesks later on this evening. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy crafting x x x

Bunting on Royal Service

 Just thought I'd share some of the photos from the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant at RAF Cosford on Thursday 12th July.

As the charity I work for was selected to take part in the pageant procession, I was one of the lucky 5000 to participate. Yes, waving away to crowds five people deep, I almost felt like Lizzie herself!



Her majesty brought with her some lovely sunny weather for the day, which was a great relief to us all after days of torrential rain (though took me a little by surprise, and I still have the sun burnt beak to show for it).

Anyway, the other VIP taking part in official duties that day was Twiglet's amazing hand-crafted bunting. In preparation for the day Twiglet (aka Mum) had churned out yard after yard of perfect hand-made bunting for us to use to decorate our float and display stand.

Needless to say, with dozens of local charities taking part, we weren't the only ones with bunting...in fact it was sort of a giant 'bunting-off'. I have to say though, Mum's was certainly 'best in show'. I also spent several hours knee-deep in florist's ribbon making a set of rosettes for the float!

Here's a few pictures of the day!

Didn't manage to 'pap' her majesty so, sorry if you were hoping to see photos of her!

Three cheers for her highness...Twiglet, Queen of Bunting! :)

Photo collage fun

 It's a nail-biting day of sport with the F1 at Silverstone and the Wimbledon final with Murray v Federer. Hence I'm sat on the laptop to give me a distraction that will save my nails (having discovered I can watch TV and type at the same time).

I've got so many lovely photos of my button creations that I thought I'd create a collage using my latest discovery - Picasa.

I've seen lots of these collages on Pinterest and think they are a really effective way of collecting together pieces of inspiration for a new project or showcasing the outcome of your labour.

I'll have to make some more things so I can keep producing more collages with the photos :)

A stitcher emerges from hibernation

After a fairly long winter lay off from sewing I'm back in action. A busy few months doing things around the house and garden, plus a hectic few months at work have left me with little time or enthusiasm to sew. I managed a nice set of quilted greetings cards as a Mother's Day gift for my mum, Twiglet, and a quantity of vintage button cushions (joint venture with Twiglet) but not much else. Therefore I'm giving it some effort this bank holiday so we'll see what I can rustle up.

As I've been a little focused on buttons recently I've fired up the 'dumfer' ready for a bit of machine felting for a change of scene. I'm thinking I'll produce some greetings cards to replenish my supplies ahead of birthday and weddings season!