Thursday 26 April 2012

Under the Weather

I've been feeling a bit low for months now.... back in September last year I had an ECG for chest pain, weeks off work, lethargy, uncomfortable throat, pins & needles in hands and feet.....well, all sorts of odd pains.

I've had a sickness bug and countless colds (which leave me with a permanently runny nose!), a trapped nerve in my neck which is SO uncomfortable and bizarrely makes the side of my head feel 'fizzy'!.

I woke up the other morning and looked yellow....not badly so....just not a great colour.

I decided a bit of a body boost was in order, yellowing being a sign of a sluggish liver, I decided to up my water intake (I'm VERY bad at drinking water!) and get myself some beetroot (thanks goodness I like it!).

I got myself some multi-vitamins and a thing my Mum-in-Law takes called Co-Enzyme Q10, an energy boosting anti-oxidant.

Happily I also got a call from a company I used to get all my organic fruit and vegetable from called Abel and Cole and re-started my order with them.

The first week I got a free cookbook and this......


I made room for it all in the fridge by using up all the little bits and pieces and cooking up a soup...topped with some sprouting mixed beans (that I had added to the delivery...teehee!)

Here's the soup.......


The delivery arrived on a VERY special day.  The Birthdays of my Little Lady and Mum-in-Law, how lovely it was to have Mum staying here with us on her birthday.  Here she is with Little Lady and Teenage Daughter......


...and here is Little Lady's birthday cake (a 3 egg version of this recipe - AGAIN!)

The buttercream is yummy......(as you can tell by the finger marks under the Happy Birthday....!)


Want to know how?

Here's the recipe quickly for you...

80g of softened butter or margarine, 250 g of icing sugar (40g of which should be cocoa powder for chocolate buttercream) and 25ml of whole milk added and beaten until smooth. 

Then add your flavouring (not for the chocolate version!)....couple of drops of vanilla essence....or any essence, strong coffee and my favourite (which this one was) a generous dessertspoonful of good quality lemon curd.....mmmmmm!  (Gonna try orange curd soon too!) 

OK, recipe over back to birthdays and groceries.......

Birthdays first.....

Couldn't resist showing you this snap of Little Lady opening a present....boy is she growing up!.....

Wanted also to show you the current house decoration.....it's an Springtime Easter Bunting made by Teenage Daughter and left up to decorate the room for the birthdays......


Now back to the groceries.....this week was a slightly different array of goodies with a free lemon AND a free wholemeal loaf (can't wait to taste that!!).....

...doesn't it look inviting?.....


I feel healthier just looking at it!!!

Just so you don't worry.... trapped nerve (fizzy head and runny nose!) regularly sorted by WONDERFUL Osteopath Steve Deadman and a rice bag, throat ache caused by ear infections in both ears making glands swell... now have antibiotic ear drops, lethargy associated with stress.... taking things slower and helping the poor old bod out with a food boost and relaxing Ballet lessons with my friend Jenny at Bousfield School of Dance.

Hope you enjoyed sharing a bit of family time today, and that if you're feeling a little Under the Weather, it will encourage you to do something about it!

See you very soon (I have some more Makes on the horizon!)

Good Health,
Nora xx






Monday 23 April 2012

Wedding Belles

Friday 13th April.....not a day many would have chosen to marry on.

BUT....as far as I know, nothing went wrong!

Not only that, last November I was Utterly Privileged to be present with my Friend (and her Partner and Mum) when she gave birth to their Tiny Angel.....crumbs!!!!  What an experience!!! 

I (obviously!) have a special bond with Tiny Angel....this was reinforced on 13th April when she also had her Naming Ceremony and I became her Life Guardian.... *sniff*, makes me a bit teary!

How impossibly chuffed am I?

Then add to that, that Friend chose our Little Lady to be her only Bridesmaid!

So 2 ceremonies, lots of dresses, flowers, buying and organising to do.  Not for me thankfully!!!

Friend had asked for some crocheted Bits....happy to oblige!

Although I knew some of what was going on by what I had been asked to make, I didn't know it all. I am so pleased I didn't. It meant I enjoyed the day. Seeing my B-E-A-U-tiful friend Emma for the first time in her dress....WOW!

Want to see?  (If sharing this is too much for you Friend...I'll remove it!)

Hope you're sitting down, she is STUNning.......ready........

Ta-Dah!......



You may remember back here, that one of the Makes I was working on I couldn't share Just Yet as it was for a wedding....well.....yes, this one!

Butterflies......

Yes, butterflies.....

Friend had seen them back here, along with Baby Slippers.

She asked me to make some in various shades of pink.

I am completely convinced that I saw a link to these on Attic24, but as I now can't see it, and I am TOTALly obsessed with Attic24, I could just be making that up!  I'm sure if Lucy pops by, she'll let me know!

Anyway, I also found it by searching Crochet Butterflies and followed the link to Little Birdie Secrets, a smashing blog by friends Jessica and Mandy.  If you get the chance, use this link to take a look at Favourite Tutorials.  Fabulous!

Anyway, I was given these to embellish........


....and this little headband.....


I used pinks from my stash of floss used yonks ago for cross stitch (which is still a passion but with everything else I have no time for!).

And I came up with these.........


...small, medium and large!!

They were then sewn on to the items and this is how they turned out......

Ready for another Tah-Dah? (well, 2 actually!).....

Ta-Daaaaah!!......

...large first, followed by small, sewn on to the fronts of the little jackets (which I should mention are from Monsoon).

....and, hot on it's heels.......

Ta-Daaaaahhhhh!!!!!.....................



Can't show you the headband in-situ....but here's Little Lady wearing her butterfly adorned jacket on The Big Day.......


Then, of course, were the Baby Slippers, you first saw the prototypes here.








Remember?

Well, the tiny pale pink ones, won the day!

Ready for yet ANOTHER Ta-Dah?

Brace yourself......... steady.....

Ta-Daahhhhhh!!!.......


Modelled by a sleeping Tiny Angel on her Big Day!

Cute or what?!

It was a DeLighTFuL day...........all love, gor-juss-ness, smiles......*sigh*

So glad I could share some of it with you, hope you enjoyed your peek.

I'll be back again very soon with some MORE makey stuff.

Until then Happy Making, Reading, Blogging or whatever........!!

Nora xx

Saturday 21 April 2012

I'm Back...............

Hello, hello!!

Goodness.....it HAS been a while!

Oh!  So much going on....all good (I think)!

Visiting, visitors, making, wedding, Easter, birthdays................ooooooooooh!  It's been so exciting!

BUT.....I do feel I have neglected you somewhat!  Sorry!!!

Where to start!

Do you know....I'm not sure!

OK, be logical.

After my news about the Pinaddicts Challenge for April 2012, I had a mad week of work.

My husband and I run clubs for kids, somewhere fun they can come whilst parents work.  We LOVE it!  We had a great week being energetic on new scooters, playing football, an outing to a local play park, treasure hunt, sports morning, making pom-pom spring animals, Easter shaped gingerbread biscuits, french bread pizzas, cards, Easter baskets.....crumbs, the list goes on!

I can't show you any photographs of the children doing their thing....but here's a couple of snaps of the biscuits and fluffy friends..........


After that, we took ourselves off to a family gathering.

We went via my husbands parents in Bedfordshire to avoid the usual horrible Good Friday traffic on the M25.......dismal place!

But ultimately we were going to a little place called Button Oak where husbands family were gathering for no special reason but to see each other.

We rented a lovely bungalow with In-Laws and lunched with family on Saturday.

On Sunday morning, Little Lady was rushing about the house to tell everyone that she had seen a rabbit hopping about the lawn!

Oh!  An opportunity not to be missed!!!!  Guessed yet?

Of course, we told her it was the Easter Bunny hiding gifts in the lawn!  I duly produced my little offering.......the orange bag I made for her as part of the Pinaddicts Challenge in March.

Here she is clutching it and checking out EVERY possible crevice for chocolate!


She was sure she had seen the rabbit here..............

YES!  Chocolate!



And here was another one!


Also sporting her New Shoes, hastily bought on Saturday morning as we had forgotten to pack any for her!  (She travelled in her pyjamas....so no shoes required! Oooops!)

And blow me down if Teenage Daughter hadn't done the same thing!

Anyhow....lovely weekend!

Rounded off on the way home by a couple of nights back at the In-Laws.  I DO Love It there.

We walked with Little Lady to the local windmill, it is so picture perfect....no wonder they used it for an advert (with Diurmuid Gavin walking out of it) to advertise bread for....Morrisons, I think................


Bliss and delight, on Wednesday we returned home with Mum-In-Law, she is such a honey, I do Love her so.  It was a last minute thing to give Dad a break from caring and catch up with being himself for a while.

Thursday, Teenage Daughter (who was pining by now!) got together with her Friends, they made Raspberry Smoothie (with the obligatory Whipped Cream & Sprinkles) for themselves and Little Lady, look...........


The sheer DELIGHT in pursed lips and sticky cheeks!  Mmmmmmmm!


Well, for the moment I won't subject you to any more Non-Makey news, I was really just popping in to let you know that I am back and have things to share, so I hope to see you again VERY shortly, then it WILL be with something Makey!

Until then, take care,

Nora xx

Monday 2 April 2012

Pinaddicts Challenge - April 2012

Oh the excitement!

There I was posting this on the blog yesterday when............ I realised that the first Monday in April meant.......

Pinaddicts Challenge!

(breath, breath....in through the nose......out SLOWly through the mouth...calm, calm....)

SO, my moment for April 2012 has arrived!

It started out with this from Two Brown Birds on Pinterest, actually I've got a few different ones but this is my favourite.

Then there was a purchase!

I shared that with you in Stash and Stuff.  Remember this.....


....purchased from Fabric Rehab?

Following this tutorial, I cut templates from stiff paper (I have a file I keep templates in for future Makes....so I always make them from something sturdy!)....look....


Pinned them onto my fabric, cut and laid one piece on top of the other making sure the shorter sides matched and right sides together......


The larger piece will bulge and look odd, but that's fine, you are doing it correctly!  Here's mine....look....


Sew the short edges together (not my neatest attempt....but don't worry if yours looks scrappy...it won't show in the end!  Promise!)


Open it out with the small right side facing up....you'll notice the you get a strip either side of the larger piece of fabric.....that is correct.  Make sure these sides are even and press with a warm iron.......


Fold the piece in half, long sides together (in my example with the two plain pieces touching) this will give you an exact centre fold.........unfold and fold the two edges in to meet on the centre fold and pin......like this......


Sew across the short ends......


I wanted a really secure hem as this is likely to get LOTS of use, so I zig-zagged and did a straight stitch (sorry about the blurry pic!), I then pinked really close to my zigzag (it made the ends less bulky)......


Now turn the right way out......

Ready.........

Ta-Daaaaaaaaaaah!.....


Take a pack of handbag tissues, remove the plastic wrap and pop them into your tissue case.......


If you are eagle-eyed, you will have noticed the changes of fabric throughout these photographs...yes, it could only mean one thing........

(Apart from me forgetting to take photographs at every stage of work on the first example......over-excitement again!)

It means that both Fiona from Two Brown Birds and Louise from Sew Scrumptious were quite right!  You can't just stop at one!

Huh-herm.....look.....


LOVEd making them, so quick and easy.

Teenage Daughter and I have had LOADS of comments about them.

So we reckon they'd make ideal gifts for friends and accquaintances, teachers, work colleagues, fund-raising efforts....the list is endless.

Go on....give it a go!

So there it is in all its glory......my Pinaddicts Challenge Entry for April 2012!

Thanks for popping in....see you soon!

Nora xx

PS  Now if you look down the right hand bar you will find the 'Bloghop' for the Pinaddicts Challenge....why not take a look at the other entries or better still....JOIN UP!!!  Nx


Sunday 1 April 2012

Easter Bonnet 2012!

I went to collect Tiddly Toes from Pre-School on Wednesday and was obviously mumbling the usual stuff about see you next term........... blah, blah, blah!  When Staff Member says...won't we be seeing you at the Egg Hunt tomorrow?

Aaarrrgghhh!

I must have had that 'oh....the Egg Hunt ' face.......she smiled sweetly and said 12:15 for lunch then come back at 1:45 for the Egg Hunt, cake sale and games!

OK, no panic....I know where the leaflet is about this at home..... Hoorah!

Get on with the rest of the day (which is quite a long one as I finish work just after 6 and have to eat before going to Ballet at 7:45!!)

Next morning I read the leaflet....... Easter Bonnet........EASTER BONNET!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, no self-respecting Toddler could ever take part in an Easter Egg Hunt without an Easter Bonnet!

Thankfully my Aunt had bought a little hat from the pound shop....don't ask me how much it was!!  Hahaha!

I had some ribbon, brads, tissue and glue (card-making stash!)......... some 'nest' material and 3 chicks from craft projects earlier in the week!  Phew!

I cut, pierced, threaded, scrunched, glued, fluffed and tied.....

With the following result......ready?

Ta-Dahhhhhh!!.........


And here is my darling Tiddly Toes in her Jelly the Pug sundress and a gorgeous little bolero from John Lewis sporting THE Easter Bonnet of the season!!


And I couldn't resist showing you this picture of Pure Ecstasy that is Chocolate Crispy Cake..... you know how that feels don't you?


And who could resist those rosy cheeks and chubby hands?  Delicious!

Hope to have some more Makes soon......*GASP* ......just realised it's Pinaddicts Challenge for April starting tomorrow!!!

Yippee!!!!  *hoppy, skippy, jumping about with an insane grin*  Yeeeeehaaaa!

OK, OK, calm yourself.

Off to photograph my entry which means I'll probably be back VERY soon!

Nxx

Sunshine Sundress

Do you remember that in this post I mentioned going off to cut out a pattern?

Well here is the tale of Pattern Cutting Sunday!

You may have seen this post called UFOs, where I told you about some old 'stuff' I had found.  I then became re-aquainted with some patchwork pieces that I had made or at least started some 15 years ago in this post.

Well, amongst all the 'stuff' was this remnant from C & H (Craft & Home, based here in the South East of England).

Yes......purchased more than 13 years ago!


Then there is this pattern......


...purchased for a completely different project involving crochet that I shall share the beginnings of very soon!

As the pattern comes in sizes 3-8 years, I didn't want to chop it up and not be able to use it in the future (should this foray into dressmaking work out OK!)

In the 'stuff' was some dressmaking paper, so I used it to trace the pattern for age 3.

And cut it out like this......


With the mad frenzy of (stupidly) running up and down the stairs between sewing machine and ironing board!!    AND the Creative Absorption that overcomes me when I get my head into Make-World............I forgot to take any photos!!!!!!!!!

Except the last and most important one..........

Are you ready......

I'm soooooooo excited to show you........

................Ta-Dah..!!!!!!!!!!



.....modelled with the now established pot of flowers that we planted last week in this post.

I am so thrilled with the result, it looks so good, I can't believe.....I made that!

Got some more cute shots coming soon!

Until then......see ya!

xx