House Elves!

Obviously my little resident house elves are in a dither. Their house is moving! There is getting less and less for them to care for. It is all packed away!

I have found this little message too - what a plea for a home!

Good Day Mistress Tara,

Sadly we are now homeless and were wondering if we could come and live in Glasgow with you until we have a new house to belong to.

We promise not to be a burden and will do our chores discretely.

Grovellingly yours, Your faithful house elves, Cherry & Pebble.

I'm sure SewGorgeous will crumble and allow them up to Glasgow don't you?

p.s. the pattern can be found here - although I did adapt it a little (my changes are highlighted in yellow) by making the arms & legs a little longer and adding hands in the face colour too. 

(originally from http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/fun-knitting-gnome.html)

It's Really Quite Spooky!

I can't quite put my finger on it

but something

 or someone 

is watching me!

Teesha Moore Patch Swap - 2nd Arrival

It is sew nice to get real post! These have just arrived from Betsie (Cirsium) from the USA.

 Truly lovely.

Very different from the last lot .

It's amazing how differently we all interpret the themes and peoples profiles.

My pile is growing.

Do You Ever Get the Feeling You're Being Watched?

Whilst doing all this packing for the big move I have been having this very odd feeling...of being watched!

It is very disconcerting

Teesha Moore Patch Swap - 1st Arrival

I was sew excited! My very first swap has arrived in the post from. Momta3luv2Quilt (Tisa) 

Aren't they lovely?

I had forgotten just how nice it is to get proper snail mail though the letterbox.

And just the colours I asked for...all autumnal

 I can't wait for the next ones to arrive.

Though it may take me a while to collect enough to make my journal cover as these are quite small. I think mine may have been a bit too big. I will have to make them a bit smaller next time.

Introducing Lady Annabell

Had an amazing 2 Saturdays a while ago at Carlisle University making Annabell whilst SewGorgeous made Clara.

She is 21 1/2" tall. Has knickerbockers, net underskirt, voile underskirt, gold over skirt and an antique lace collar as an over-skirt. her bodice is layered silk with machine embroidery, cut & slashed to reveal the under-layers.

 

She may one day adorn the top of the Christmas tree when I have a house big enough for a tree over 6 foot tall. I'm not sure what Barbie will then do. 

 She has been around for a while now ever since the day she broke her leg and had to have major surgery involving the glue gun! She is resplendent in her voile frock, wings, tiara & wand. All made in the dead of night when SewGorgeous was very little and was thrilled when she was finished. She has become a bit of a tradition now and I don't know if I would be allowed to replace her with Annabell!

 

Maybe when SewGorgeous gets her own house she can go and live there!

Pen & Ink Work on Wood

An old technique for decorating wood .

Prepare wood by sanding smooth & seal with sanding sealer.

I used Indian ink in black and some staining with red/orange.

The box was just a cheap  unfinished one I picked up at Ikea. The blocks were just bits of old wood I had hanging around - so it works on new or old material so long as the preparation is good.

The two floral patterns came from some research into William Morris's work

Not sure what inspired me to do this one though but it's quite cool.

I've Joined Another Swap

Uh OH I've Joined another Teesha Moore swap - I haven't received the ones from the first one yet! 

Mine however have been received and I've have lovely feedback. Thank you girls sew glad you liked them and the little extras.

I need some more patches myself as I don't have enough to make my journal cover yet so there is method in my madness! 

They are also ideal to make by hand with my now very limited supplies of craft items since most of it is packed away. All I have left is my scrap box and a few buttons and beads etc. Makes one be very creative! 

I'm looking forward to seeing who I've to make them for. Only one partner this time and 3 patches again.

I will of course post on here the comings and goings of all this.

Teesha Moore Patch Swap - Part 2

I had two partners for this swap - this is for the second one, AngelaDawn

Again I I sent a few little extras for a surprise

AngelaDawn was a little more difficult to choose fabric for as she didn't have colour preferences on her profile I just hope I picked some things she liked.

A pretty butterfly one

A vintage style one with a bit of fabric left over from the bag I made and posted earlier on the 12th February 2013

and this one for her love of flowers.

I can't wait to receive mine. I dont know who or where they are coming from.  It's so exciting!

Teesha Moore Patch Swap - Part 1

I mentioned earlier that I had joined a swap on swapbot for Teesha Moore patches.

Well I duly sewed and stitched and posted them off to their recipients on Tuesday 12th February. Both have flown over and now at there new home in America.

This was to 2 partners and this one went to, BennysMumma

with a few little extras for a surprise

 her profile said she liked black and red & white combination so hopefully this one fitted that.

She also said she liked purple so hence this one.

and this one is a bit of a surprise - I just liked the pattern and stripe combinations. Hope she does too!

I can't wait to receive mine. I don't know who or where they are coming from.  It's so exciting!

Multi Seeded Flapjack / Granola Bars

After packing a few more boxes I rewarded myself with a baking session. 

There was a a very good reason to this. This recipe is a great way of using up lots of the little bits you get leftover from your other baking. I don't know about you but I have loads of packets & jars & boxes with just a few grams/ounces left in the them.

This is meant to be a healthy recipe and is loaded with good stuff but it also contains quite a goodly portion of sugar, syrup & butter etc so not what I would call a low calorie munchie - However it is extremely yummy.

I'll give you the proper recipe here first and then I'll tell you at the end what I actually put in it today.

100g Unsalted Butter

150g Golden Syrup

150g Light Brown Sugar

Melt these together in the microwave

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence

200g Rolled Oats

30g Pumpkin Seeds

30g Sesame Seeds

30g Sunflower Seeds

30g Pistachio Nuts

30g Whole Almonds

60g Chopped Dried Fruit

Add every thing else - easy peasy!

Spread and press down well into a lined tin 25cm x 35cm (10" x 14")

Bake at Gas No. 5, 180 C for bake for 10-20 minutes (if you use a smaller tine & make them thicker they will need more time.) until golden brown.

Leave for about 10-20 mins in the tin to set before slicing, but do it before it gets cold

 * * * * * * * * * 

Here's what I put in today:

100g Unsalted Butter

150g Golden Syrup

150g Soft Light Brown Sugar/Light Brown Muscavado Sugar

90g Mixed Seeds (sunflowers seeds, sesame seeds & pin nuts)

80g raisins/sultanas

50g coconut shavings

50g mixed peel

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence

200g Rolled Oats

80g mixed whole almonds, pecans, walnuts - roughly chopped

I have in the past also used dried cranberries, apricots, cherries, crystallised ginger etc so anything goes really.

 

It's hard not to eat it at this stage!

I'm rather proud of this bowl. It's recycled and was formerly the door of my old washing machine!

When baked & cut up it makes about 36 bars 

 

May have to take a few in to work tomorrow so I don't eat it all myself!

A-Symetrical Knitted Bag

I have, in vain, tried to find the pattern for this whilst packing up. Maybe it will come to light when I unpack some day soon, hopefully. If I ever find it I will post it.

A knitted bag made from cream cotton, fawn wool, a  Liberties boucle wool and a marl wool.

Using various stitched: moss, brick etc.

Decorated with Random, odd vintage buttons. A god way of using them up. Can't bear to part with them but never know what to do with them!

I then lined it with calico, added a zip and further embellished it with a cotton tassel to match.

Very Chic!