Finished!!

Today I...

...slept in. YAY!



...finished this for here. Only 3 days late, and clearly not keeping up!





...played Monkey-Plunk. Our favourite.





...went to the haircutter and got the kid short back and sides.



...tried to make a wreath but failed miserably!


...started making a couple of pocket gnomes from "More Softies" for the Toy Society Christmas drop this weekend.




...demonstrated that actually I still have WAAAY too much time on my hands by making these. One of them twice (unpicking and all!). For DOGS. Someone else's dogs.




Currently cooking round three of teeny weeny mince pies and listening to Carols in the Domain! Joy!!

Nothing says Christmas like...

and...

At our house, we have decided that "Ikea" is the Swedish god of gingerbread... This is how we spent this afternoon!

Here it comes... the REALLY silly bit of the silly season...

Although I am finally on holidays, it feels like I've hit the ground running this week... Friday night - work breakup at our house, Sunday was the first of two family Christmases we are hosting, now trying to make inroads into the mound of UFOs that is overtaking my sewing room so the next lot of rellies can sleep in there... I'm making up for six months of being snowed under, and I'm hoping to get it under control in a week... I am NOT holding my breath!!

Seems like ages ago now, but I have to comment on just what a fabulous night out the Brown Owls Christmas break up was! The company was splendid, the food was tasty (mine anyway!!), but best of all was the Kris Kringle of handmade goodness!

Further proof of the talented ladies you all are! I was lucky to get this gorgeous package from Megan - Cookies in a Jar (white choc and cranberry, no less!), hidden away in the cutest red spotty lunch sack!!! My favourite on both counts!

Oh - and our house is turning into a forest... we've been pumping pine trees out at a rate of three a night! Next year I'll start earlier and make them as Christmas cards, I think! I got the idea from here...

To market, to market!

Been spending the nights this week tidying up loose ends before the Goodwood Christmas Market tomorrow! I'm very excited - it's been two years since I did a market. I kinda miss it, but I also appreciate having full time work... not sure I could manage both!

So, my box is packed, I've stamped paper bags and I think I have everything we need piled by the front door! I'm really looking forward to spending the day with my lovely friends Vanessa and Linda - lots of gossiping!!!
Hope the weatherman was wrong...

And I finally finished this little guy - he's been my fall-back craft for months now...

Too early???!

I have to admit, I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! So how could I miss the opportunity to watch the Pageant and put up our tree?! At least I waited until the manchild was home from his sleepover...
And another thing - it IS November ( he reminded me of the year we put it up in October.......)

Turns out I'm a lazy blogger...

... but I do have excuses! (I'm very good at excuses!!!) I have been focussed on getting all the loose ends wrapped up in preparation for the Goodwood Market on November 28th - it's a bit away, I know, but I haven't done a market in 12 months and I want to be VERY organised! I have made cards to put all the brooches on and thought about pricing ( the bit I dislike the most) and now have about 50ish finished, ready to sell brooches!

I have also been working very hard at my real job - yr 12 assessment time up until this Friday then yr 11 begins. I hate this time of year! On the up side - I have been inspired by one of my students who has been sewing pjs... came home full of ideas last night and whipped up a pair of shorts from a pillow case I found in the back of this mess (next holiday's project!!) -



The cotton shorts have that lovely worn feel to them that old linen gets. It reminds me of sleeping at grandma's! Now I'm trying to work out a design for a top from the other pillow case.



I have also been busy collecting bits and pieces for my latest addiction - gluing together pieces of crockery to create new treasures! I was a bit surprised when I bought Burda yesterday and found they have an article about the same thing! I like mine more though...

I upset one little old opshop lady last week. She commented that a lovely plate I bought was a Meakin, and I explained that I was going to glue things to it... she was stunned! But I did find other Meakin pieces which had been my ma's to use with it - at least I kept to a theme!!!





I have another project about to get underway - my 'Ramona was a waitress dress', a little tribute to Paul *sigh* Dempsey. No idea what I will sew it out of - love some suggestions, though! I will definitely make the blue version with topstitching. Funny how my taste in old patterns is changing as I get older - no way would I have looked twice at this pattern even last year!!