Yippeee! Crafty Birthday Pressies!

It was my birthday last week.  I had a lovely day, and lots of fantastic gifts.  

Simon bought us tickets to the the Cirque du Soleil 'Corteo' show, which was AMAZING.  If you get the chance, you should definitely go to see it.  I can't recommend it highly enough!  The acrobats were brilliant, and the costumes.....  Oh my goodness!!!  It got me wondering how complicated it would be to make a career change - from teacher to trapeze artist.  How long would the training take???  

Unfortunately, I couldn't take any photos of the show.  So, instead I thought I'd show you some pics of my the crafty pressies I received.....

Firstly, look at this cute box for my knitting needles:

I LOVE it so!!!  I love the little old nanny's outfit. I think I need a knitting outfit just like it!

And look what was inside it:

Aren't they the cutest needles EVER?  Who cares what they knit like - they have red and green toadstool tops!!!  Crafty friends always know JUST what will make us jump up and down with excitement when we tear off the gift-wrap, don't they?!?

Simon got me this:

It was on my 'wish list'.  It's a kit for making mini mobiles, which I thought would look good in my little crafting room.  If you haven't heard of the make before, check out djeco stuff.  It's for kids, but I think lots of you may well fall in love with it too!

This was also on my crafty wish-list:

I remember this from when I was little and, when I accidentally stumbled upon it while I was searching on Amazon, I thought it would be a fun book to have in my crafting library. 

So, look out for future knitting projects, teeny-tiny mobiles and pictures made from cut-up circles of paper in future posts.....

Happy weekend to you all, my lovely bloggy friends!

Carly

x

Another Crafty Addiction???

I've been wanting a set of alphabet stamps for aaaaaages, but I couldn't find one that was just right.  Then, a few weeks ago, I found one that was exactly what I was after.  AND the stamps came in a cute little wooden box.  So, of course, I HAD to get it there and then!

Here it is.....

Don't you love the little box?!?

My first attempt at using the stamps wasn't great.  I kept getting blotches around the edges of the letters.  Here's my first bit of stamping.....

I've been working on improving my stamping skills over the past week.  It's getting better, slowly. I'd be grateful of any tips, though. 

Can you guess what I've been using my stamps for???  I'll be posting about it soon.....

Carly

x 

Baby Card

Well, I haven’t been getting a lot of crafting done lately (see my last post for some of the reasons).  I have a few ongoing projects that I’ve been picking up and putting down, but they’re not ready for showing-and-telling yet.  And I’ve been working on a few Christmas pressies, but they’re top-secret!

So I thought I’d show you this baby card that I made for our next-door neighbours a few weeks ago.  I really want to make more cards.  I struggle to find ones I like in the shops – and the nice ones are so expensive!  So, for this occasion, I decided to make my own.  And here it is.....

What do you think? 

Once I managed to make a babygrow template that I was happy with, the rest was pretty simple.  I enjoyed adding the little trim-bits with cute spotty and checked papers.  And, of course, HAD to stick on a few buttons to finish it off!!!

I hope I'll be able to get a bit more crafting done over the weekend.....

Carly

x

Fun in France

Hello, dear blogging friends!  

I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a while (my last two posts were pre-scheduled), but now I’m back.

Firstly, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who visited me here while I was away – and an extra BIG thank you to those of you who left lovely messages.  And, secondly, I wanted to apologise for not visiting or leaving comments over at your homes-on-the-web while I’ve been away.  I’m looking forward to spending some time this weekend catching up on what you’ve all been up to!

Well, what have I been up to??? 

We had our half-term break, and went off on our travels!  We went to France for the week, with some friends.  We stayed at their auntie’s cottage, in the Cognac region (in the southwest).  It was a looooooong drive – 6 hours one day and 5 the next.  But it was well worth it!  We had a brilliant time!!!

Then, since we’ve been back, we’ve had a pretty awful time.  Simon was in hospital for a very long and very scary week.  He’s back at home with me now - and feeling a lot better.  Thank goodness!!!  But I don’t want to dwell on anything horrible here – my blog’s meant to be a happy place!  So I’m going to tell you about our little trip instead..... 

Here are our holiday highlights:

- Eating fresh croissants every morning

- Touring the Hennessy cognac factory (with tasters, of course)

- Cycling around countryside lanes (past vineyards and tiny villages and beautiful chateaus)

- Befriending a local dog (‘Pinpon’ decided he wanted to live with us for a day – and we didn’t object)

- Playing games in the evening, in front of the fire

- Romping over Europe’s biggest sand dune (near Arcachon)

- Eating ice-cream sundaes – at the beach – in the sunshine – with no coats – IN OCTOBER (in La Rochelle)

- People-watching in Bordeaux

- Taking lots and lots and lots of photos

... and here are my favourites:

[home for the week]

[our new friend]

[vineyards]

[a beautiful chatteau]

[Bordeaux cathedral]

[blue sky and autumn leaves]

[a charming cobbled street]

[a pretty window]

[heaps and heaps of sand]

[enjoying our trip]

Thank you, Vicki and Jon, for a wonderful week!!! X

Right, I’m off to put the kettle on, grab a biscuit (or two) and pay some of you a visit.....

Carly

x