**JOY**

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas

Chrismas Wreath and a Quick Look Back

I finally managed to finish making my lovely wool felt Christmas wreath, made from a kit from The Cinnamon Patch which I bought in Harrogate.

I spent this morning hunting around garden centres and hardware shops looking for a suction hook to put it up on the door, only to find that the panels of my front door aren't smooth enough to attach it to! I had to shuffle things around and it is now hanging on the inside of the lounge door, where I think the light is better anyway.

Now for a quick look back to the TenPlus Exhibitions at the Knitting and Stitching Shows. I feel like I hit the ground running when I got back from Harrogate so I haven't had a chance to show you how the exhibition looked.

We felt very professional at our stand!

The "touch and feel" book and artist's statement book.

My work is on the right. The gorgeous purple piece is made by Val Lewis from dyed blanket and painted tissue paper. I'd love Val to make a real coat like that!

A closer view.

We ate our lunch in the stunning old cinema at Harrogate International Centre!

I'm off to bury myself in a mound of wrapping paper! I'm feeling a bit guilty as I've banished the dog to the kitchen. He is driving me crazy today as he keeps stealing the tealights from my candle holder!!! He really is not the best trained dog in the world!

Craft Blog Christmas Party

Join the party!

I have been missing in action for a while- life has been pretty busy as I know you are all finding for yourselves!
Ten Plus Textiles had a great time exhibiting at Harrogate and we delivered work to Sale Waterside Arts Centre on Tuesday for our exhibition starting on Saturday. Other than that I have been busy shopping, wrapping, making, ferrying children around to college interviews and band rehearsals, battling the elements to walk the dog and cleaning my carpets- what a social whirl:)

From Berlin To Dublin

BERLIN

Welcome to all of you that have just begun to follow my little blog and of course, those of you that have been following for a while are also very welcome. I really enjoy reading your comments and being part of this lovely blogland community!

I had a request from grrl + dog for more photos of Berlin, so here goes.....

I love the architecture and particularly the colour of this building.

This whole buliding was covered in grafitti. It looked as though it had once been a nightclub, but I think it was inhabited.

Tha Holocaust Memorial.

I may post a few more at a later date, but if you fancy a bigger "fix" of Berlin images have a look at Mr Dotty's flickr account as he has loads of them!

DUBLIN
I was away last week for a few days helping to steward the Ten Plus Textiles exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin.

Val and I flew over on Wednesday, but unfortunately there was a problem with the plane engine so we were delayed by three hours and missed our sight seeing time, but we really enjoyed the exhibition. It went very well and the group have sold a lot of pieces. We met some wonderful people- the Dublin people are so warm and chatty- had some fabulous meals and of course, sampled the Guiness! We also had the very unexpected treat of complementary tickets to see John Barrowman!!!!!
 I loved spending time with the other members of the group and their husbands and getting to know them better. They are such beautiful, talented and interesting souls! Our group ranges in age from 40ish to 70ish (though one of our associate members has just turned 80) and I feel priveledged to have these ladies in my life.

"Scavengers" by Caroline Schofield as part of the Seascapes exhibition by members of the Crafts Council of Ireland.

             Winnie's Wool Wagon

I was also very excited to meet Mr X Stitch and the team (you may have seen him on Kirsty's Handmade Britain). He is a lovely man- I'm not just saying that because he gave me M&Ms!!!  Click on his name to take a look at their fabulous website full of cutting edge contemporary stitching.

We will be at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate from 24th November to 27th November (I'll be stewarding on Saturday and Sunday) so if you are nearby, pop in and say "Hi"!

More From Berlin

Life seems to conspire to keep me away at times, for various reasons. I meant to post a few more piccies from Berlin and here I am a week after I got back trying to remember what we did while we were there! Anyway, here goes.....

The bubble man, near the Brandenburg Gate

  A sight-seeing ballon- I wasn't brave enough to go on this!

                                          The Tempodrom

Dotty About Hexagons

I do love making traditional patchwork hexagons. I love the process; drawing paper templates, pinning them to the fabric, cutting around the template, folding in the seam allowance and tacking and finally stitching them together with tiny little stitches.

The shapes grow and I feel connected to the past, all those thousands of fingers that have carried out the same actions. I find it very soothing.

I love how these brooches have come out- thay have given me another good use for my gorgeous buttons!

One or two will be appearing in my EtsyShop over the next couple of days.

Berlin

I am readjusting to being back in the usual weekday routine after a few exhausting, but wonderful days with my lovely family in Berlin.

We took in a lot of the sights, photographed the grafitti on the remains of the Berlin Wall and walked miles!

On the second day we bought day passes and we braved public transport, hopping on and off the U-bahn.

 Everyone we asked was very helpful in spite of our poor attempts to speak German and the transport system was really convenient once you got the hang of it, especially as the trains run every 5-10 minutes.

Berlin is a fascinating city and I would love to go back soon.

Home and Away

My lovely girl came home very tired, but she had a fabulous time in Switzerland.
I'm busy packing, but I will have lots to show you when I get back. Have a good week:)

Miss You...

My lovely daughter has gone to Switzerland on a school trip and I miss her. I have spring(!) cleaned her bedroom, so it is nice for when she comes home, but it feels very strange that she is not there each night. The Geology teacher posted some photos on the school website, so we know that after an arduous coach journey of over 20 hours, they have arrived in a gorgeous part of the world in glorious sunshine!

Alfie has been very restless in the evenings- I think he is missing his very special cuddles!
Roll on Saturday when she will arrive home tired and full of exciting tales:)

I went to the AGM of Ten Plus Textiles this morning and we got feedback from the members who had stewarded our exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Show last week. It went very well, lots of people gave very nice compliments and we sold 8 pieces. I am really looking forward to stewarding at Dublin!

Wow Factor!

You may remember my tribute to my Doc Martens. Well, today I discovered a pair of boots to die for at purevintageclothing at Etsy.

These pink glitter boots are amazing. My white glittery ones are from the same era as I bought them in 1994 for my wedding (Oh my, does 1994 count as "vintage"?!!!)

I wonder if mine would sell for £400......I guess I'll never know because I would never part with them.

The Crimson Moon

A couple of days ago I recieved a package that I was really looking forward to. I had ordered a pendant from The Crimson Moon on Etsy and it is really gorgeous.

The pendant has a large bead that Liz has woven with seed beads in shades of pink and purple, threaded onto a black cord- beautifully made, very tactile and extremely wearable!

You can see why I wanted a pink one!

(Aplolgies for the photo- I am really uncomfortable having my photo taken.)

Liz is a very talented, friendly and obliging seller. Go and have a browse around all the beautiful beads and pendants in The Crimson Moon shop.

The other exciting news today is that I met the lovely Vicky and Isla from the sewabee blog at the Vintage Village in Stockport. Vicky has been fundraising for the Oldham Cancer Support Centre and so far she has raised over three and a half thousand pounds. Visit her blog to see how she is raising money and future events.

Victoria Baths Again

More from Victoria Baths

Victoria Baths

This morning we went to a vintage fair held in Victoria Baths in Manchester.

This place has a fascinating history and is being restored. I was so pleased to be able to get close to this beautiful window, which I had only seen in pictures before.

Count Down to Ally Pally!

I didn't get chance to show you my new little house last week.

I really enjoy making these as they are a bit quirky!

Last week was a busy one with meetings at the children's schools, a couple of coffee dates with lovely friends, various appointments and a meeting with the Ten Plus Textile group to package 16000 postcards into 1000packs! Not to mention the mounds of laundry I seem to be wrestling my way through most days!

Tomorrow is an important meeting at the textile group as all of the work is being collected  in ready to be taken to Alexandra Palace for the first weekend of Knitting and Stitching Shows.

These are my quilted wallhangings rolled up and labelled, ready to go in their bubble wrap pockets.
It is really exciting and daunting in equal measure!

I Heart Buttons

As promised yesterday, another denim corsage, which I will be adding to my Etsy shop.

Beautiful Buttons

I showed you my lovely buttons from oritdotan in an earlier post. Well, I was busy over the weekend creating something lovely to show them off.

I used recycled denim to make fun, shabby chic corsages.

The corsages will be available from my Etsy shop.

I'll show more tomorrow:)

One Dog and his Boy!

Alfie seems to have recovered from his wasp encounter, though I think he may be getting the odd twinge from his tail as he keeps sitting down on his walks.

He is making sure he gets plenty of rest!

Buttons, Bites and Buildings

I'm feeling quite creative and have been bitten by the bug again- all I need now is time...

My poor little dog has been bitten by another kind of bug. He was stung by a wasp on his tail this morning for the second time this week! He is curled up on the chair feeling very sorry for himself:(
He'll be having lots of cuddles today to make up for it.

I received some gorgeous buttons  a few days ago from oritdotan at Etsy.

They are so gorgeous and I am mulling over how to use them as I am going about my business.

I had a fruitful day yesterday and I've been working on some more quirky little houses. This time I decided to make a 3D art sculpture (that sounds a bit grand!) and I wanted to incorporate letters as I am always immersed in grafitti around here!

So here it is, a liitle row of houses spelling out the word "HOME".

It can be purchased at my Etsy shop. Tell me what you think!

Like A Flame

In case you missed the front of the wallhanging a few weeks ago.... here is a little peak before it was quilted.

Sewing is Never A Bind

It has been a while since I blogged about anything crafty and I have been busy sewing as the Knitting and Stitching Shows are fast approaching. Yesterday I was at a meeting of the Ten Plus Textiles Group and we were selecting the work that each member of the group is going to exhibit there. It is going to be a beautiful and colourful display! We had a very busy day, but it was helped along by gorgeous cakes that Diana had baked.

This morning I have been busy binding one of my pieces, trying to get everything finished in time.

A sneak preview of one of the pieces, inspired by a letter from my Nan, our shared love of cottages and a sprinkling of fairy magic!

                                                                    Nan's Dream

I quite like how the quilting looks on the back of these pieces too!

                                                            Away With The Fairies

                                                                      Like A Flame

If any of you get chance to visit our stand at the Shows, I don't think you will be disappointed. I will be stewarding Thursday to Saturday at Dublin and over the weekend at Harrogate- I'd love it if you came to say "Hello",:D

Craft Fair at Saddleworth

Isn't it funny how you start to feel attached to people here in Blogland, enjoying reading snippets of their lives, feeling sad at the lows and wishing them well in their pursuits, even though you've never actually met them?

With this in mind, I'd like to do a little plug for an event being organised by a lovely lady called Vicky from Cherry Events in aid of Oldham Cancer Support Centre
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cherry-Events/117699781651919

The Craft Fair will be held at Saddleworth Civic Hall at Uppermill on Sunday 11th September, 11am-4pm and there will be lots of lovely craft stalls and some really yummy cupcakes.
You can read more about some of the stallholders and about Vicky's other fundraising efforts on her blog;
www.sewabee.co.uk

Ramping Up

We are counting down to the start of the new Term next week. The kids have had a great time playing out, building ramps and teaching themselves new tricks on bikes, scooters and skateboards. They are incredibly resourceful and  at the end of each day we seem to have a whole new pile of bits of broken wood and bricks to put away.

There have been moments when they have driven me mad. Some days I have longed to drink a cup of tea uninterrupted or to actually be able to hear the radio on the rare occasions I've had chance to switch it on.I know though that I am really going to miss having them around, even the clatter of wheels on paving slabs! The dog is going to miss them in the house and racing him on the field. I think we are all going to find it hard to get into the new routine, focus and get back to work.

The garden is just plodding along at its own pace. The tomatoes are really taking their time to ripen.

I'm off to Liverpool today to take a pumpkin plant to my Dad. I didn't realise they would spread so much and I planted 6 of them!

Havae a good weekend:D

Green Feet

Hi! Alfie here! I'm just hijacking my Mum's blog to show you how handsome I look even after playing out (my Mum says I'm a bit bedraggled, but I don't know what she means.)

We had a great run around the field this morning and I got to play football, chases and races with my boy brother- I won every time. It was great fun because the big grass mower was there and it leaves lots of clumps of mown grass for me to wee on!!

I'm really liking the green tinge around my paws from all the wet grass.