Christmas crafts reveal!

Good morning all, hope you are enjoying the holidays!

I have been enjoying reading all your blogs recently on my phone, but couldnt get to the computer to make any comments...

Anyway, I can now safely reveal what I have been busy making over the past few weeks as they have all been handed out!

First of all, here is my dining room table full of all the gifts I made

Lavender scented felt hearts with appliqued crochet motifs:

organza corsages:

Now on to the edibles!
First of all, sugar cookies with ginger and orange zest:

Hand made truffles:

Handmade caramelised nuts - oh my goodness it was hard to let these go...!!



Peppermint bark:

I had a wonderful time making all of these, and so far feedback from the recipients has been good!!

Have a great day!

Helenxx

Corsage cuteness

Hi everyone!

I have really got the crochet bug pretty badly at the moment, I just cant seem to put that hook down!!

One of my recent making sprees has resulted in a variety of different corsages:

I just loved the button, looks like a sweet I think!

Although the next corsage looks beautifully simple, in fact its quite hard work as I had to put double crochet and trebles (9!!) into the same double crochet - quite tough for the fingers, but well worth the work when you see the result:

This one is made in rows and then sewn into place:

with a few seed beads in the centre for added sparkle.

Here is my collection of crochet corsages - Im not sure which is my favourite...

Which one do you like best?

Helenxx

Welcome Autumn - season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...and news of a giveaway!

Hello everyone thanks so much for dropping by on this, the first day of Autumn...

I love, love, love autumn - it has always been my favourite time of year ever since I can remember.  A lot of people used to say "as you grow older Helen you will prefer the spring instead" but, as Im now the "other side of 50" I think that they must have been wrong as I love it more than ever!  I think it is the brilliance of the colours of the leaves (and how fleeting that beauty is), the wonderful fruitfulness that abounds everywhere (including pumpkins!), woodsmoke from bonfires in gardens and on allotments, darker evenings, melancholy misty weather - I adore it all.  I love the fact that I can get the slowcooker out and make yummy vegetable soups.   And make bonfire toffee.  And bake yummy pumpkin pies which are laced with cinammon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.  And there are some very enjoyable events where I get together with dear friends thrown in as well for good measure!

As I said in my last post I am feeling very crafty - every autumn I find that I feel like this.  So I am making lots of corsages at the moment, Im busy filling up a big box for presents and gifts that will be needed over the coming months.

This is my latest - a real autumn corsage:

Just loved the autumn themed fabric!

Have a wonderful first day of Autumn, whatever it is you get up to!!

Helenxx

PS please check out Sue's autumn giveaway - photo and link in my sidebar!!

Magic Ball Swap

Hi everyone!

I have been involved in so many swaps over the summer, its been lovely!

I was paired up with Leah at Faith76.

Just look what greeted my eyes when I opened the package, love the knitted corsage:

Delicious edible treats:

Super knitting supplies:

Then I had to call my daughter (who loves swaps as much as I do!) to start unwinding the ball!

So here we go - yummy smellies:

Jewellery and keyring:

Lots of sewing supplies and ribbons:

More wool and ribbon:

Just look at these swish gardening gloves, I really will feel glamorous when planting up the daffodil bulbs:

This handpainted silk bag contains yummy potpourri:

And I was so delighted to receive this hand-knitted heart (smells of heavenly lavendar):

And here is everything together - isnt it amazing?

I feel so lucky Leah to have had you as my swap partner, thanks so so much for everything, you have spoilt me rotten!!

Here is what I sent:

Hope you liked it!

Helenxx

Crochet and sewing in midnight blue!

Morning all!

Thought I would show you a couple of things I have made recently that have a midnight blue theme!  Love this colour, and although I love bright and pastel shades (more of which in a future post) I have always gone for darker colours. 

Here is a crochet corsage in a blue so dark it is almost black:

I popped a few shiny beads in the centre just to give the colour a little lift.

And, going back to my heart theme I also made this:

I embroidered the heart in a silver thread.  The fabric was purchased when on a Grand Day Out with my dear friend Sue.  These particular  makes went out as part of the Midsummer Nights Dream Swap to my super swap partner Rae but Im planning to make a series of hearts in similar style to show the different phases of the moon.  Here are the rest of the things I popped into her parcel:

I really loved sewing with the silver thread but it tended to strand quite a bit - any tips re. how to stop it doing that? 

Hope you have a lovely day!

Helenxx

Light at the end of the tunnel? Perhaps not quite yet...

Good morning to everyone!  Hope the weekend is going well for you and that you are getting time to do all the things you love to do, with the people you love to do them with!

Here in the moonstruck household things have been a little hectic of late...leading to no time for me to post to this blog (although have been reading all my favourites out there in blogland on my phone).

Several reasons for this state of affairs:

My job is beyond wildly hectic at the moment
3 of my 4 lovely kids are needing the computer for revision/courseworks/assignments
When I did have a window of opportunity for posting last week blogger played up something chronic so I just gave up!!
Have so little "me" time at the moment I have been crafting and snapping photos for when I have more time to blog!

So I have a camera full of wonderful things (well, I think they are!!) to share with you all over the coming weeks once things quieten down a bit.

Meantime, here is a little something I made for one of my favourite nieces:

A crochet corsage - she so loved the crochet jewellery I made for her I just had to make this.  It is made by a strip of crochet which is then wound together spriral-style and stiched in place.

A lovely little project to do whilst supporting my kids through their school/college work of an evening (btw that is one of the drawbacks of being a teacher, we never really get to switch away from teaching mode!)

So, somewhat strangely, with all the hectic-ness that is going on, I am feeling quite creatively inspired...guess it gives me some time to switch off from the day-to-day.

And Im also gathering and squirelling away goodies for the swaps Im doing - Rae (midsummer nights dream swap) and Bee Happy (charity shopping swap) Im having a ball choosing and making things for you both!  I really love swaps, it really gets me thinking outside the box, and gets my little grey cells (my hair is turning grey to match them) working in a more fun way than is often usual at the moment!

Have a lovely day, whatever it is you get up to!

Helenxx

PS the photo at the start of this post was taken on one of my daily walks into work - I love these "commutes" as I get to think and plan all sorts of things, observe all the tiny wonders of nature and it makes a healthy start to the day.

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