Heart swap goodies

Evening all, hope you have had a good day!

Well, Mr Postie did his thing and yesterday my heart swap parcel from Linda arrived much to my excitement!  And what a feast of goodies and treats awaited me!  I decided to be good and wait for my daughter to arrive home so we could open it together to cheer her up (her brother had found, and brought home, a dead cat - not one of ours thank goodness - earlier in the day).  We were both hopping about with anticipation!

So here we go:  lovely chocs a good start, and the same brand that I sent Linda (great minds thinking alike here) 

A beautiful bead heart, really reminded me of the jewels worn by Elizabeth the 1st:

And a lovely corsage in some of my favourite colours:

Then we unwrapped super sweet Lovehearts lip gloss and cheeky cockrel coasters:

A delicate heart keepsake box and soothing heart-shaped bath fizzers (from one stressed out teacher to another, love it!)

And the whole lot together, including the cute kitty card!

Am I a lucky lady or what?!!

Thanks so very much Linda for all these lovely swap goodies, I feel truly spoiled!

Helenxx

Heart and chick, spring style

Good morning - well, after a glorious spring week (which I spent at work) guess what - grey and misty this morning!  But to keep in the spring mood I thought that I would post some photos of the things I made for Sue for the Spring Makes Me Sing Swap - we have already swapped our items so its safe to reveal all!!

Two hand sewn items, heart and chick:

I loved the spring themed ribbon I bought recently in Bradford:

And the chiffon flower decal I bought in Derby:

And then I made this cheeky little spring chick:

And of course there had to be a little bit of crochet thrown in:

The pattern for this super easy to do scarf can be found here at the lovely fruitful fusion blog.

Then I thought I would jazz up a gift bag to put the whole lot in:

I had the best time making all of these things and feel happy that they have gone to a good home!

Whatever you are doing or making this weekend, have a good one!

Helenxx

Walking to work photo challenge

Hi everyone - well the weekend is finally here (at one point this week I thought it would never arrive!).  I enjoy walking to and from work everyday (its a couple of miles each way according to my trusty pedometer) because, my job (teaching) is a little bit stressful (!!) and it helps me to clear my head and unwind both before and after my day.  And it is a cheap way to get fit too!

All very good I hear you cry - but one of my regular visits to http://amandamakes.blogspot.com/ I came accross her recent post which had lovely photos of her walk to and from work.  What a great idea I thought - must have a go!  So armed with my camera and with the intention to shrug off any odd looks from other folks going to work I did just that this morning.

Said goodbye to this cheeky cat sitting on our front fence:

then took a couple of seconds to take in this yellow lovliness in the front garden:

Then put my best foot forward and set off!  The hills in the distance are one of my favourite walks, its lovely living in a town but with the countryside right on my doorstep

This group of trees always reminded me of the illustrations of the 100 Acre Wood in an old Winnie the Pooh book given to me when I was little

Much of my walk follows a lovely stream that originates in woodland about 5 miles away

Have played Pooh sticks more times than I would care to remember from this little bridge:

This funky cycle path sign post almost makes me want to take up cycling (well, almost......)

Letter to post on the way into work? - this Victorian pillar box will do the job nicely:

My darling mother helped to plant the blossom trees in the next picture back in the 1930's when she was in the Girl Guides - she taught me so much about arts and crafts, and spends a lot of time with my kids (even though she is in her 80's) showing them how to paint and draw

Past the tennis courts now - the court cover arrives stealthily in the autumn like an alien craft:

Blossom and flowers to cheer the soul:

Lovely decorative railings near the entrance of our local museum:

Look at these amazing wicker sculptures splashing across the facade

Well, journeys end now and I have arrived at my office and booted up the computer.  Now where have I seen that wallpaper before.......

Thank you so much for staying with me on my commute to work, and thanks amanda for inspiring me to do this challenge!

If you walk to work, why not take up the photo challenge yourself? 

Helenxx

Spring Makes Me Sing Swap

Hello again, hope you are all enjoying the spring sunshine!

If you are a reader of the crafts@home blog (which I highly recommend to you - no, she doesnt pay me for the publicity!!) you will know that my fabulous friend Sue and I were paired up for the SMMS swap - as we only live a mile away from each other, this meant we could swap IN PERSON!!!!!  So we decided that we would swap on the first day of spring.

Look at the lovely things I received:

This is a beyond beautiful egg shaped pincushion in an egg cup (I used to have an egg cup similar to this when I was little).  Im always losing pins when we are doing our sewing together, so this is just the thing I needed!

Two votive candle holders, all hand painted by Sue with springy daffodils - these look amazing when lit:

 Some cute as pie bunny biscuits, baked especially by Sue  for me for the swap (did the moonstruck crew's eyes light up when they saw them!)

And then there was this little beauty:

Not spring colours?  Well, you see the beauty of us being paired up for this swap is that we have been the best of friends since the first day at art college (which only seems a couple of years ago but is a bit longer than that.....)  and although I love all the bright springy colours I do favour autumnal/winter/muted colours - whenever Im in a yarn or craft shop those are the colours I am drawn to.  So she made this for me in the colours which I love the best.

AND - as if all these goodies werent enough, apparently she has an extra something for me but, in the tradition of having four kids like me, has misplaced it somewhere so as soon as it is found I will blog about it here!

All in all lovely goodies from a highly talented lady.  Thanks so so so much for everything.


Helenxx

Monday night sewing and a swap....

Evening all - well spring has officially arrived in the moonstruck household - Sue from crafts@home and I did our spring makes  me sing swap last night during our regular sewing get together!  Mind you, no sewing happened as we were so busy drooling over the lovely spring goodies.  How we giggled when we found we had been partnered - we have been friends for beyond a long time and live near each other!  It was so lovely to do the swap in person.  It was Sue who really encouraged me to get into blogland and Im so glad I took her advice as Im having a ball!

I will be posting photos shortly of our goodies, but in the meantime our daughters put us to shame and actually did some crafting:

a lovely little wool flower, destined either to be a corsage or to be joined by others in a garland - which do you think would be best?  My daughter can make these better than I can - what is that all about?!

Thanks again so much crafts@home for all my lovely springy treats - I feel truly spoiled!

Helenxx

Crochet, cakes and bunnies

Hi everyone, hope you are enjoying the sunny weather - spring tomorrow - yay!  Seems like it has been a long time arriving this year.

Just a few bits to blog about today - first of all, a WIP - a crochet cushion:

Sorry the pic is a bit dark, the light was awful when I took the photo.

Now on to some yummy cakes my daughter made:

She is a good cook, very patient, likes to take her time getting things just right.  As you can imagine, these didnt last very long!

Finally, during my Monday night sewing evening with my dear friend http://blog.suepops.co.uk/ my daughter and suepops daughter made these little chaps:

We thought they made a good pair, although a few of them attached to a length of ribbon would make a great garland.

Whatever you are doing this weekend, enjoy!

Helenxx

Favourite things!

Hi everyone, thanks so much for your lovely comments on my last post!

I have to say that I am very very fond of perfume, especially exoctic types like incense etc.  So much so I have lovely incense burner at home:

The incense almost looks like chocolate:

Completely inedible of course (even though this one smells a bit like yummy turkish delight...)

I crumble up a little portion, light a special type of charcoal briquette - thingy (very technical huh!!) then when the charcoal is glowing pop the crumbled incense on to it and there you go - a beautifully perfumed home!

This is my all time favourite one:

In my humble opinion, absolutely gorgeous! I think incense is like Marmite (you love it or you hate it), but I love it (love Marmite as well actually!)

Have a great evening, Helenxx

A grand day out!

Morning all - hope your weekend has got off to a great start. After not blogging for a while, I am now going to write an epic post!  So sit down, grab a coffee and a biscuit and join me for the ride!

Well...a day off work, the sun is shining (at least for a bit) I had the company of a lovely friend, kids safely at school, so, what should one do?

Hit the road for a crafty-themed road trip methinks!  Here we are whizzing past Haddon Hall in Derbyshire (closed at the mo, but have promised ourselves a day out there in the summer).

First stop:

Heirs and Graces in Darley Dale.  Oh my, I dont think I have ever seen so much fabric together in one place, it was mind boggling...

A lovely simple stained glass window - the shop is in an old chapel building:

Managed to have self-control and limited myself to these lovely goodies:

The white flecks are actively silver sparkles, this fabric is going to be used for some hearts with a night-sky theme...

And some lovely buttons, again for heart projects:

Back on the road again, next stop Bakewell:

I love Bakewell at any time of year - always plenty of feathered friends to see..

And lovely little alley ways full of intriguing shops (and a Narnia-style lampost!)...



After some serious browsing around the shops, buying birthday pressies for a very special young lady, we were somewhat peckish so when we saw this cafe window how could we resist popping in?

The food was superb...

Very veggie friendly!

And when in Bakewell you have to have a Bakewell Pudding dont you?  But we also are millionaires shortbread adicts...so bought both and shared them!  What restraint I hear you cry...

Aside from the food being super, the customer service was exceptional, rarely have I been to a cafe and made to feel as if my friend and I were the only customers (and it was packed) nothing was too much trouble, and yet the service didnt feel obtrusive...all in all a lovely experience, we will definitely be calling there again!

Back on the road, next stop - Rowsley to visit Caudwell Mill

A lovely old mill with a craft centre, cafe, glass artist and more...

Im sure it was very dark and satanic (to quote from "Jerusalem") in its day...

But now a place where you can buy lovely things like these..



And meet more cheeky feathered friends...

All in all a fantasically super day out with a fantastically super friend!  Thanks again so much http://blog.suepops.co.uk/ for being my roadtrip partner in crime!

Must go now, it is a special birthday in the moostruck house - it's my lads 17th birthday!

Thanks for staying with me for this very long post - I think you deserve another cuppa!

love, Helenxxx