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

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