Gorgeous Gifts

Last week was MEANT to be my last week at school (had I not been signed off 4 weeks early).  And, to my surprise, Simon came home with this amazing basket of gifts for me (from my lovely class and their parents).....

The whole thing looked so pretty, I was reluctant to start opening any of the goodies to begin with.  Look at the toadstool paper!!!  

I'm not normally an overly-emotional person (and I COULD always blame my pesky pregnancy hormones), but I was really overwhelmed by the gifts as I opened them up.  Clearly, those little kids and their parents know me SO well, and put SUCH a lot of effort into selecting things that I'd love.  There MAY even have been a few tears.  

Here, have a little look at my gorgeous gifts.....

[a knit-your-own-teddy-bear kit]

[a red and white spotty Cath Kidston mug]

[pearly, heart-shaped buttons]

[pretty ribbons]

[a 'thank you teacher' bookmark]

[a cute toadstool ornament, now on display in my crafting room]

[a box full of multi-coloured buttons]

[and a precious book made up of pictures drawn by each of the children]

What a wonderful leaving present!!!  And what a lucky teacher!!!

Just in case any of the Owls' parents happen to be visiting, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  

Now I'm off to start on my knit-your-own-teddy-bear (I think I might well be able to do it laying down).....  :-)

Carly

x

   

Loop Scarves

Hello there,

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post - and for your ideas of crafty-things-to-do-whilst-laying-on-your-back.  I did get some inspiration (and giggles) from your suggestions! 

As I've been such a rubbish blogger lately, I do have quite a few makes from way-back-when that I haven's shared with you yet.  Including these.....

  

They are loop scarves that I made for Christmas - one for my mom, one for my sister, and one for my best friend.  

I was a bit baffled by the puzzle of how to sew them up to begin with, but got the hang of it in the end.  Once the idea of how it should work clicked, they became a reasonably quick and easy project.  

I'll definitely be making more of them (I want one for myself, actually).  

Maybe, when I have the time (and ability), I'll do a little loop scarf tutorial and share it on here.

Until next time.....

Carly

x 

Update.....

Hello, dear blogging friends. 

Thanks to all of you for sticking around when I’ve been such a bad blogger (writer AND reader, I’m afraid).

I thought I should give you a quick update on the baby-front.....

I was expecting to carry on working up until half-term, at the end of May.  And, after a very lovely and very relaxing trip back to England over Easter, I was really looking forward to going back to school for my last few weeks with what has been a really great class (and really great group of parents too).

BUT, that was not how things panned out.  I had a regular check-up with my gynaecologist just before school was due to kick off again, and was told that I’d have to stop working straight away, for the rest of the pregnancy.  That was quite a shock, and the news took a while to sink in. 

But, after I’d been into school to pack up my things and say goodbye to my colleagues, I started thinking that this being a ‘lady of leisure’ thing might be okay after all.  I then got quite excited about all the baby-crafting I could do.  Over the next few days, I was glued to Pinterest, researching all the cute things I could make.....  More toys, more quilts, clothes, accessories, decorative bits and bobs for the nursery.....

Then, at my check-up the following week, I was told that I had to be on ‘modified bed rest’ – I have to spend the whole time laying down (not even sitting).  Oh!!!  So much for my crafting dreams!!!  I’ve yet to find a way of balancing my sewing machine on my belly, I’m afraid.  And, when I tried to work on my crocheted baby blanket, I almost suffocated myself.  And paper-cutting, with a craft knife.....  I’m not even going to ATTEMPT that!!! So, crafting is definitely on the back-burner for now. 

In the meantime (between visits to the doctor), I did manage to do a little bit of making (a few finished projects, and some more half-done).  So, I’ll show you those over the next few weeks.  We also did some DIY bump-photos before I got the latest doctors’ orders (some of which I’m sharing with you in this post).  

I saw my gynaecologist again yesterday (pregnancy/maternity care here in Germany really IS thorough – I do feel I’m being well-looked-after).  She said I need to stay on bed rest for the next few weeks but that, as my due date (5^th July) gets closer, I MIGHT be able to get up and about a BIT more.  So, fingers crossed I’ll get a few manic weeks of crafting in then, before baby arrives.....

Until then, if anyone has any ideas for crafting projects that can be carried out whilst laying on your back, please do share..... 

Carly

x

Monochrome Bunting

Lately, I've been trying to sort through and get rid of SOME of the thousands upon thousands of project photos I have saved on my laptop.  And, in the process, I've come across quite a few things that I'd meant to show you but forgotten all about.

One of them was the black, grey and white bunting I made for my sister (to go in her bedroom) for Christmas.  

I really LOVE making bunting!  I like the process of picking fabric colours and patterns to go together, and the cutting-out, sewing the fronts and backs of the little triangles together, and then sewing them all into a strip of binding to finish the project off.  SO quick and SO easy and SO much fun!!!

By the way, I think I see a bunting project for the Little One's room in my crafting crystal ball.....

So, here's my monochrome bunting:

Wishing you all a happy Easter!!!

Until next time.....

Carly

x

Fabric Baby Book

As promised in my last post, I wanted to show you the fabric book I made for our Little One.  
It took me aaaaages to make!!!  I really enjoyed designing each page, and doing the applique and embroidery bits.  But then, turning it from a few pieces of fabric into a book was NOT so much fun!  There was a lot of un-picking and re-doing, and a lot of naughty words along the way.  

But I managed it in the end.  And here it is.....

One smiley sun:

Two friendly clouds:

3 birdies on a branch:

4 eggs in a nest:

5 little toadstools:

6 pretty flowers:

7 caterpillars on a leaf:

8 black spots:

9 colourful flags:

10 red apples:

Another thing for the baby drawer!  

After the Easter holidays, I only have another 4 weeks of work to go before my maternity leave starts.  So I've already started on my 'to make' list for then.....  ;-)

Carly

x

Baby Crinkle Toy

A sewing project show-and tell this time.....

I've been making a few toys for our Little One.  The first one I made was a cuddly cloud (which you can see here).  

The second was a crinkly patchwork square.  I used high-contrast colours, and added some little textured ribbony-bits around the edge.  To make the crinkle sound, I used a piece of cellophane wrap in the middle.  

A quick, easy and fun-to-make project!  And another little something to add to the 'baby drawer'.  

My third baby toy was a fabric book.  Not no quick, and not so easy!!!  I'll save that for next time.

Until then.....

Carly

x

      

Christening Papercut

Oh dear!  I've done it again - almost a whole month with no blog post.  I just can't get it together at the moment!

Today, I wanted to do a little show-and-tell about a special christening present I made.

A few weekends ago, we flew back to England for a couple of days.  We had a VERY important (and VERY lovely) job to do..... Our best friends had asked us to be Godparents to their beautiful baby daughter. 

So we had to come up with an idea for a christening gift idea and - of course - it was going to have to be something 'Crafted by Carly'.

I'd already made little Amelia a quilt (which you can see here), a couple of dresses (here and here), a hat (here), and a soft toy (which I forgot to post about).  So what to make for this occasion???

In the end, I decided to make a papercut.  And here it is.....

It took a long time to draw and cut, but I was really pleased with how it turned out.  

Well, that's it for today.  

I've finished off (and photographed) a few baby bits and bobs for our own little one lately.  So, hopefully, it won't be too long before I post again.  Well, that's my intention anyway!  We'll see.....

Carly

x