A round up of the past few weeks

WARNING: this is the moany part of the blog - but it get cheerier...I promise.  

Mr J has been able to get home most weekends and has been busy doing lots of DIY.  He is currently in the cellar 'spider proofing' Big G's room!  This involves removing badly made floor to ceiling cupboards and replacing them with a fake wall.  So yet again my house is upside down and an absolute mess.  I'm not moaning but it does mean that I will spend much of the beginning of next week cleaning, rearranging stuff and painting yet more walls.

A few pictures of a small corner of the house that was actually organised (for all of 4 days) , it is currently buried in Big G's boxes, desk, a pile of clothes, you name it, its there.  

My pine cones have opened up and dried out nicely.  Two of my favourite postcards I received this month, some pretty vases purchased in Ikea and a remembrance card for Mr J's granddad who died last year, aged 100.  

I am a bit fed up of painting, but probably not as much as Mr J is; spending every day off doing huge DIY projects!  

So not a lot of sewing or crocheting has been going on this week.  I am however still continuing with my mammoth crochet blanket - one looooooong row at a time!

On a happier note: 

(See, I told you!)

It was middle B's 7th birthday mid week and we celebrated this weekend with pressies and a cake.  I used leftover wallpaper to wrap his pressies.



Not easy to wrap with wallpaper, it doesn't like to fold so you can't get clean crisp edges - but 7 year olds don't notice such minor details! I then used left over wrapping paper to make a sweet garland to hang.  I couldn't find the Happy Birthday garland that we use for every birthday, I'm sure its nestled safely between some fabric in one of my cupboards. 

I whipped up a new one.  Took me about 5 mins to make.  

                 

I had my birthday a couple of weeks ago too, and as usual was completely spoiled by my family - especially by Mr J.

                .  
Please note that my kitchen table is NEVER this sparse!  EVER!  But Mum and I had just finished wallpapering this wall so I decided to take a quick pic.  Birthday flowers from Mr J.

I am a huge fan of Rob Ryan's work...I mean HUGE.  Mr J went overboard (not complaining) in Ryan Town and bought me a lazercut of my favourite piece of Mr Ryan's work.  You can see it on the left of the photo, all framed and ready to be hung.  Swoon.  

                

When in London a few weeks ago I went to Ikea and stocked up on lots of frames.  I spent an afternoon framing all the new prints we (I say we!  Mr J is the gadgets/appliances man and I am the interiors lady - we stick to our roles!)  have bought for the home.  I now have no finger nails left, but I do have a mini art gallery to admire until I get the time to hang them.  

I am still enjoying being part of the post crossing community.  So nice to receive mail from around the world...some tell you about their culture and lives, others just want to say Hi and practise their English, and there are a few that use it to create beautiful mail art - just to make someone on the other side of the world smile.  I have to admit that I use it as a create outlet. 

 A yellow themed envelope for a postcrosser.

 A wonderfully floral themed package that I received a few weeks ago - for no other reason than I expressed an interested in flowers and airmail stickers from around the world.  

Oh, one more SUPER DUPER CHEERY thing... 

Mr J and I celebrated our 4th (going out together) anniversary yesterday - I couldn't be happier if I tried.  I bagged myself an amazingly kind, thoughtful and funny man when I honestly thought I'd be a single forever!  

Thanks for stopping by my lovelies.  Have a great week and I'll see you all on Instagram till my next post. 

Claire x

H-A-P-P-Y

Late on the eve of Middle B's first birthday I decided to make a 'quick' bunting spelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  Quick it was not.... HOURS later and without a pair of pinking shears or adequate time I produced this:  

I was reasonably pleased with it at the time.  I'm never delighted with anything I make.  I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my sewing projects but I never plan them properly so they will never be perfect or quite turn out how I envisaged them to.  

I used quite a few Cath Kidston fabric samples that I had requested, retro football themed fabric that I was gifted years ago, several fabrics that I had left over from a pram quilt that I had made Middle B and fabric from a shirt that he owned.  I still have the remnants of that shirt... 

I had always planned at some point in the future to properly attach the string, as I had only tacked it on at the time... and I also wanted to tidy it up.  but 10 years later it is still going strong...it is a bit wispy around the edges but it now hangs proudly at every family birthday, young or old, boy or girl.  I love it.  I love looking at the fabrics and remembering how I came across them.

Every time I hang it up I feel H-A-P-PY!

Before I say ta ta for now....one last reminder.  Giveaway ends tomorrow at midnight.  Click on the Giveaway post and follow the instructions to find out how to win this beautiful hearts and buttons bunting.

Much love 

Claire x