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.