Santa, you know me so well!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  I hope you all had a happy Christmas, and that you celebrated the start on 2013 in style!  We had a wonderful Christmas with my family (being spoilt, eating lots, and playing games), managed to meet up with lots of UK-based friends, and had a fantastic New Year's Eve (with my parents and some friends) at a hotel in Cheltenham.  

Santa Claus is SUCH a clever fellow!  How DID he know what I was hoping to find in my stocking this year?!?  And he's SO generous too!  I think I must have been very, very good last year!!!

I thought I'd do a little show-and-tell of some of the crafty pressies I received.....

[look out, books - here comes the scalpel...]

[a little bobbin corking dolly]

[a bit of CK, of course]

[another papercutting book]

[my new 'Mollie' subscription - with freebee book]

[a new camera lens - to snap some birdies and other creatures]

[a lovely, colourful, small-project crafty book]

[and last but not least... some cute fabrics]

I'm CAN'T WAIT to get started on some new crafty projects.....  Thank you SO much for all my wonderful Christmas gifts, dear family and friends!!!  

Next time, I'll do a show-and-tell of some of the pressies I MADE for people this Christmas.  So, see you soon.....

Carly

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Busy Doing Nothing Much

This week is our half-term break.  And – sorry to those of you slaving away at work this week – I’m having a great time, busily doing nothing much!

My parents flew over from the UK last Thursday, with my long-awaited latest issues of ‘Making’ and ‘Mollie Makes’.  So, I’ve been trying to steal a few quiet moments to have a little read (or at least a quick look at all the lovely photos).  Of course, I’ve spotted MORE projects to add to my ‘to do’ list, and more things I “NEED” – that will be added to the bottom of my (very long) letter to Santa!  I told you in my last post - these magazines are NOT purse-friendly!

As I’ve got my mom here with me for the week, we’ve (of course) managed to fit in a few shopping trips!  Well, it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it???  We were meandering around a department store (‘Karstadt’) the other day, and I just happened to stumble upon their haberdashery department – SURPRISE!!!  I got some bargain yarn, for €1.50 for 50g.  I bought 6 different colours, as there were so many gorgeous colours to choose from – and it was sooooo lovely and soft!  Here are 4 of the colours – you can see the other 2 later on in the post. 

Today, I sneakily bought my first few Christmas decorations of 2011 (I’m sure there will be plenty more to come over the next few weeks).  I got them from a beautiful shop called ‘Home and Garden’.

I also bought these toadstools from the same shop.  Aren’t they cute?!?

Oh, and one more purchase I wanted to share with you – these cute and colourful mugs (from ‘Buttlers’):

While I have my mom here to supervise/sort out my mess-ups, I thought I’d start knitting a hat I’ve had my eyes on for some time.  I’m using two colours of the soft, soft yarn I bought from Karstadt – a really bright red and a greyish-taupe colour.  I’m going as quickly as I can with it, as I want my mom to show me how to sew up the seams before she goes home.  Don't laugh at me, all you pro-knitters!  Here's the hat so far:

I know this is really silly, but I think that one of the reasons I’m enjoying this project so much is the fact that the yarn colours match so well with the colours on my needles!  AND they also look pretty with my bright blue stitch counter. 

AND, the WHOLE THING looks great with my knitting bag!!!  Haha!!!  ;-)

What else have I been up to this week???  Hmmm.....  We've been eating out a fair bit, we've been to the zoo, we've been to an ice-hockey match (Duesseldorf won - yippeeeee), and we've been to visit my sister in Cologne.  We've also been working on our Halloween costumes.....  But that's a whole different blog post.....  

See you all soon.....

Carly

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Mollie Makes Magazine Review

I’ve posted a few times about my ongoing love affair with ‘Making’ magazine.  But I haven’t yet mentioned my fling with ‘Mollie Makes’.  I have a huge quandary here because, you see, I can’t decide which one I love the most!!!

In trying to review ‘Mollie Makes’ here, I’ll have to make a few comparisons and weigh up the merits of each.  Maybe that’ll help me to decide between them – and then I can perhaps save myself some money.  This two-timing is an expensive business, you see!

Well, Mollie Makes is REALLY GORGEOUS!!!  

The photography and colours are delicious and (I know this may sound a little weird, but...) I LOVE the feel of the paper it’s printed on!  The whole thing looks - and feels - VERY different from ‘Making’.  In my head, I explain the main difference like this.....  The look of ‘Making’ (being more organized, structured, fresh and colour-coded) is more closely matched to my ACTUAL personal style (of craft, dress, home decor, and personality).  Whereas, the look of ‘Mollie Makes’ (being more boho, cluttered, cute and quirky) reflects what I’d LIKE to be more like..... If that makes any sense!?!?  Basically, what I mean is, the styles of the two magazines are very different, but I love the aesthetic of both!

The ‘Mollie Makes’ tagline is ‘Living & Loving Handmade’, and I reckon that reflects really well what the magazine’s all about.  There’s definitely a focus on crafty lifestyles and living.  It’s chock-a-block full of photos of random inspirational ideas, beautiful handmade things to buy, and other people’s amazing homes and studios.  There's not as much ‘reading’ as there might be, but I guess this is made up for by the sheer volume and lusciousness of the photos!

Also, there aren’t as many projects in this magazine as there in ‘Making’.  BUT the projects they DO include are super-cute, and most of them look reasonably quick and simple.  I haven’t tried any out yet (although there are quite a few on my ever-expanding ‘to do’ list).  But I’ll be sure to let you know how I get on when I do!

If the shortage of projects in ‘Mollie Makes’ is seen as a negative, it should win back a fair few brownie points for its free gifts!  Each issue comes with a kit and instructions for making a sweet little something-or-other.  All the kits I’ve collected so far look pretty easy to make, although I haven’t made any of them YET (more things on my ‘to do’ list).  Again, I’ll let you know.....  One issue came with a kit to make three really cute felt rings.  I’ve cut out the felt already – now I just need to sew the pieces together.  If only there were more hours in the day!!! 

Well, as you’ve probably guessed, writing this post has NOT helped me to decide between ‘Making’ and ‘Mollie Makes’!  Both are special to me in their own ways, and I can’t bring myself to part with either at the moment!  So, sorry purse!!!

If you’ve read either (or both) or these magazines, I love to hear from you!  What do YOU think???

By the way, my parents are coming over for a visit in a few days – and they’re bringing me the two latest issues of BOTH mags!  Woohoo!!!

Until next time.....

Carly

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Crafty presents - and it's not even my birthday!

Last Saturday, a close friend of ours got married.  And another friend (who moved back to the UK some years ago) came to stay with us for the weekend, so that she could go to the wedding too.

Of course, the wedding was beautiful, and the bride looked stunning (I should really add loving weddings to the ‘about me’ page of the blog).  And it was great to catch up with friends who I hadn’t seen for some time.  AND there were LOADS of people there who I could talk crafting with!  What an added bonus!!!  The bride was the patient lady who taught me to knit, and I managed to chat my way around three other knitters and a fellow sewer!  I think I may have even found myself a possible crochet teacher – which is very exciting! 

So, all-in-all, I had a FANTASTIC day: my first German wedding; a beautiful bride; speeches that made me shed a few tears (which is a sure sign they were good); fun with friends old and new; plenty of craft-talk; plenty of food; plenty of wine; and plenty of dancing!

BUT, the excitement didn’t stop there!  As our lovely house guest was leaving on Sunday morning, she gave me a ‘goody bag’ as a thanks-for-having-me gift.  And what a goody bag it was!  Inside, there was a copy of the ‘Hobbycraft’ magazine (which I’d never read before, but liked very much), two cards of gorgeous, gorgeous buttons (some round red ones with white spots, and some green hearts), a string of sparkly pink beads, and a HUGE bar of chocolate.  

Imagine all of those crafty and yummy treats – and it wasn’t even my birthday!?!

Thank you soooooo much Melanie!!!  You can come and stay again any time!!!  ;-)

Auf wiedersehen,

Carly

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