Summery Crochet Bunting..........

Gosh, where has the last six months gone !!!!!!!!!! It's the first day of July which is always means the start of summer for me so hopefully we'll enjoy some nice, balmy days. Also it is a very busy month, with four birthdays and two anniversary's, all in one week. This year is a special month as my youngest daughter will be 18 and my husband and I will be celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary.!!!! I was a child bride, lol.

A few weeks ago, a friend's sister, via Instagram asked if I could crochet her some bunting in some pretty, summery colours. I said yes and this was my first paid commission, which I was very excited about. Who'd have thought when I learnt to crochet, 12 months later, people would ask if they could buy my projects.

I used Drops Paris yarn that is an Aran weight 100% cotton, it is great for bunting as it's a nice sturdy yarn. It is a bit splitty when you use it but I don't find it a problem as most cotton yarns split including the more expensive ones.

The pattern is a modification from the book Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench and the flower was from an old copy of Mollie Makes.

Before I added the flowers, I starched the bunting, just to give it a bit more structure. The recipient loved it and sent me a photo of it up, in her baby girl's bedroom.

One last thing, Google Reader has ceased to exist from today so I've switched to Bloglovin, if all my lovely friends want to follow my posts that way, the icon is on my sidebar,

 Thanks for stopping by, have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx

Pillow Box......with a washi/fabric tape tea light.

Happy Friday, everyone, I'm sure the weeks are going quicker !!!! Tomorrow, I'm hosting a Baby Shower for my sister, who has her baby boy in 8 weeks time. I will be serving Afternoon Tea with lots of fun and games.

I thought I would give all the guests a little 'Thank You' gift as they left, like a grown-up party bag. I covered each Pillow Box, which I cut using the Sizzix Pillow Box die, with SU Tea for Two paper and cut a small doily into quarters. I had some small shop bought tags which I stamped a tag from the IBS Fancy Tags set and then stamped the 'Thanks' which is from the Little Phrases II. Lastly I added the bow, IBS Flowers and the tag to the box.

I decided to put a little scented tealight in each box, but decorated them with washi/fabric tape, I used was fabric.

I bought some inexpensive candles...........

and transformed them into these.

I covered around the plain metal with the tape, make sure the tape doesn't overhang the top, you don't want the flame to catch it. I did burn a candle to check that it was safe after the fabric tape was added, it was absolutely fine but please put it on a safe surface and don't leave it burning unattended.

Have a great weekend and I will let you know how the baby shower went in the next few days.

xxxxDebxxxx

FO Friday.......A Last Minute Gift.

Hello there, Happy Friday everyone, I'm back today with a FO (finished object), which I will be sharing on Tami's blog, it will be the first time I've played along with FO Friday's.

My friend asked me on Wednesday night, if I would have time to make some fingerless gloves for her MIL, before Christmas, she isn't very well and is feeling the cold, at the moment. I was really struggling for time so had to say no, yesterday though when I had five minutes, I thought I would look on Ravelry, just to see if there was a quick, easy pattern and if I had suitable yarn.That's when I found the pattern for these gloves, they were perfect, I had the yarn and were really quick to crochet.

The pattern is called Lacy Fingerless Gloves by Christie Pruitt, I started them late last night and finished them this morning. I love the pattern so will be making more, I'm so glad I looked for some and got them finished, I'm sure she will love them.I used Rowan Cashsoft 4ply, which is so soft and warm but lightweight too, and hook size 3.50mm.

If you want to see other FO's, head over to Tami's and take a look.

I probably won't have time to do another post so I would like to thank everyone who visits my little blog, I really appreciate all your kind comments that you take the time to leave, so thank you again.

I'd like to wish you and all your family, a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Peaceful New Year.
xxxxDebxxxx

Crochet Capelet.........another gift finished.

Hello my lovelies, I'm back today with a FO, this little cape is for part of my niece's Christmas present, she will look so cute wearing it.

The pattern is the Austen Capelet by Holland Designs, you can find it on Ravelry, the sizes go from newborn up to adult sizes. I used Drops Merino Extra Fine in colour 11, this size is 1-3 years old, it took 5 X 50g balls of yarn but there is only 105 metres of yarn on this brand, you would normally get 130 metres with other brands of DK, so may only need 4 balls.
I ordered 6 so have one and a half balls left, I'm hoping I've got enough to do a hat, I've seen this free pattern by Connie Stults, that I would love to make her.

I'm still busy making Christmas gifts but my next job is to finish a romper suit that I started for my friend's grandson, I started it ages ago but time has run away with me and he was born last week, so I better hurry up or he'll grow out of it !!!!

It's short and sweet today but I'll be back tomorrow with a Christmas card for this week's IBS Inspiration Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.
xxxxDebxxxx

Just a Note.........Handmade Notecards.

Yay, the weekend is here and it's my friends birthday tomorrow, today a few of us are going to her house for a pamper day, we will be having beauty treatments, lunch and champagne afternoon tea. Now, that's what I call a birthday party !!!!!

On the crafting front, I'm back today with an handmade gift idea, amongst all the technology nowadays, I think most of us love to receive a hand written letter or just a little note to say , Hi !!! So, I have made a box of notecards.

I cut out some hearts using Spellbinder dies, stamped "Just a Note" onto them, from IBS Fancy Labels 4, and decorated with lace and pearls, very quick and easy.

I made the the box using a score board, there are lots of tutorials on the web depending on what board you have.

Supplies
Stamps- IBS Small Fancy Labels 4.
Papers- MME, The Girls Paperie.
Pretties- lace, pearls
Tools- Spellbinder Scalloped Heart and Heart die.

Enjoy the weekend.
xxxxDebxxxx

Flying the Flag for the U.K......

Hi, I hope you are having a good weekend, here in the U.K. we've got a 4 day weekend to celebrate our Queens Diamond Jubilee. There's a lot going on here in the U.K. this year and I'm very proud to be British.
Our Queen is celebrating 60 years on the throne, what a great achievement, another 3 years she will be our longest serving monarch.Also this year we are hosting the Olympics, with the Olympic Torch Relay taking place as I speak.
Anyway, with all this going on, the shops are full of patriotic things, food, drink, clothes and houseware. I couldn't resist  a metre of this fabric.

I made some bunting with it for my conservatory.

A few other patriotic buys.

 I only bought these biscuits for the tin, lol.

Hubby bought me this tapestry two Christmases ago and decided to dust it off and try to get it finished.

Can't beat a glass of Pimms in the summer, it's got to have fruit and cucumber in the glass though !!!!

I'll be at the seaside celebrating so whatever you are doing, have a fabulous time. I won't have any internet access so will catch up with you when I'm back.

xxxxDebxxxx

Some Handmade Presents............

Hello Friends, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, I know I did, it's my favourite time of year. This year I pledged to send some handmade presents, I made 5 altogether, the scarf and teddy bear which you've seen. Here's the others:

I made some personalised bunting using Cath Kidston fabric for my friends little girl and a gift box to put it in.

I also made two of these mug cosies to cover plain white mugs and filled them with packets of hot chocolate and marshmallows for Libby and Rach. I didn't follow a pattern, I just made it up as I went along by using double crochet and bobble stitch. I hope they all liked their handmade gifts as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Have a great day.
xxxxDebxxxx