M.I.A

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post? That’s a bit naughty on my part. But it wasn’t like I was sitting there with idle hands, I have so much to share. Where to begin….hmmm….

I guess first and foremost I need to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas, Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year. I hope that you all enjoyed this special time and you spent it with loved ones, those that mean the most to you.

We had a very special Christmas this year in the world of Esme Rudy. I was very lucky to have spent it with my wonderful family (all 30 something of us). Yes you read that right, 30 plus relatives all together for 5 days in the one spot. This year I got to spend Christmas with some of my family who haven’t been together at this time of the year in over 10 years.  Four generations all together.

And of course when we all get together, celebrations are called for and when you are having a party, decorations are in order. Of course me being me, I couldn’t help myself, so I was in charge of this.

Using my favourite source of inspiration (Pinterest) I was overwhelmed with ideas but in the end I had my favourites. So here was our handmade, homemade Christmas…

                   Hung up above the fire place was our christmas Wreath.


Details on how to make the deer head can be found here.

       
          Our Christmas tree (wonderfully decorated by all the grandchildren) 



Details on how to make the Christmas tree can be found here.  The link to make the paper star on top of the tree can be found here.

                                 Mini stockings for all made by me.

    We decided not to have a chocolate advent calendar this year, so here is the Santa’s beard advent calendar that we used.

I did lots of cooking during the Christmas period as well. Cakes and biscuits but my favourite would have to have been the choc fudge balls and Cranberry, Pistachio, dark chocolate bark. Every time I made a batch of either they disappeared quicker than I could blink.

Also during this time there was lots of hooky and sewing time, gifts for other people and also a few little things for us;

                         An Owl wall hanging for a special little baby girl,

                                             A Little boy frog,

 

 

A Felt fairy for a special little niece,

 

                    Front door wreath for our home (inspired by Me Me Rose)

                   Peppa pig for Little O (I got to be a pattern tester for a
                                    wonderful friend Bebe Rouge)

Now it’s time to get stuck into all my new projects that I have been saving for the New Year.  Is it just me, do you have a list a mile long too?:)

Happy crafting everyone.

Anna
XO

Busy little hands

I have to admit that I have been very lucky as a few weeks ago I was asked if I would make some of my things for Wyreena, a local gallery's Christmas gift exhibition and then a call went out for crafters to make things for Little Red’s Craft Cupboard and I got accepted too.  So the last few weeks I have been busily making things, trying to get enough products made. 

In the past when I have made things for a big order my brain seems to run away with all these fantastic ideas of things that I could possibly make and I get a bit overwhelmed, and then don’t know what to do, sit on it for a bit and then do that last minute panic that I won’t get enough made in time.  So this time I decided to just settle on a few well trusted items.  In the past my children’s toys have seem to have sold well, so I thought a few of these and maybe some new smaller in size Christmas ornaments.

And here are the final products...

A little group of owls (did you know that a group of Owls is called a Parliament?  Neither did I until a few seconds ago J), a little Miss and Master Frog, some crochet hanging birds, crochet stars and my favourite little Santa hat brooches.

I also managed to squeeze in another little frog for a Little Miss L.  I thought that maybe a little dress might have been in order and of course a little flower to pretty it up.

Besides all the crochet one of the other things that I have been busy with over the last few weeks is my garden.  I must admit it got quite a bit neglected over Autumn and Winter so when spring started it was a bit feral and needed quite a lot of work, but I have managed to get it back to how it used to be and this year I have been rewarded with the most beautiful display of my roses yet.  Last week we had some beautiful warm (almost summer evenings) and I would sit on my front porch step just drinking in the beautiful scent in the air.  It was such a fond reminder of how it used to be at my grandmother’s house.

Just looking at the pictures it seems I have a bit of a thing for orange/peach coloured roses.  I don’t know why as I don’t think I own a single thing in these colours J

 
Anna
xo

A Merry Christmas to all

Clock wise from top left; Christmas baking, Santa's biscuits, Little wooden Santa's, wreath, Little Elf, felt owl.

The presents are wrapped & under the tree, Santa's food has been put out (and food for the reindeer's), the house is clean (well semi clean :-)), my feet are up and there's a nice drink in my hand. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas where ever you are and what ever your plans are for the day. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite Christmas movies;

"The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear" - Buddy the Elf
Anna
XO

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well it’s been a little while since I last posted.  Things have been a little crazy busy here.  Lots of Christmas planning, making of things, present purchasing, it seems at times like it’s never ending but seriously I love this time of year.

Recently I was tidying up some of my cupboards and came across some half finished Christmas ornaments.  I seriously think that I started them about 3 years ago and for some reason or another they ended up in a cupboard and forgotten about.  But not this year, I am making it my mission to finish them.

So to begin with I finished the crochet pears.  I don’t know what I was thinking putting them away.  All they needed was little bits of thread added so they could be hung up. Tick that off the list.

These little present ornaments where sort of half done.  All they needed were little bows to be added to the top.  This took a little bit longer as the bows were to be constructed out of 3 lengths of ribbon. But here they are hanging nicely on our tree. Tick that off the list.

This Christmas wreath I am still in the process of making.  It is taking a bit longer.  This might be because I am writing my own patterns for all the decorations (baubles and holly).  As soon as it’s finished I promise final ta-dah photos. But here's a few progress shots.

And of course other little projects are being thrown into the mix.  I made a little mattress, pillow and blanket set for my niece’s doll house and some Christmas themed crochet hanging birds.

I have also almost finished some crochet face washers to go with some handmade soap for little gifts. I’m not into soap making, I think I have enough hobbies on my hands at this stage, but at one of the local farmers markets I go to, there is a stall there that sells the most beautiful soaps, using all natural ingredients.  I think my favourite would have to be the lemon myrtle, oatmeal and Manuka Honey.  Every time I open the cupboard that they are in the smell just drifts through the house and it is beautiful.

I am also trying something different with the face washes.  I am making them using Tunisian crochet, which I am really enjoying.  So much so that I no longer even need to look at the pattern.  I am just making it up as I go along, and I am finding this very relaxing.  No stressing about if it is done correctly.

But like with most things there is still a lot more on my Christmas wish list of things to make (and to be honest visiting Pinterest isn’t helping either.  So many creative people out there with fantastic ideas and only so many days to make things in.  Oh well, maybe next year).

How are your Christmas making plans going?

Anna
xo