A snapshot of Christmas...

It started with snow....lots of it.....and it was so pretty.....

on the hills, on the hen-house...... it was lovely.....there was even enough to build with.....and this year of course, they had to make......a Snow Pipple!!The Snow Pipple liked watching the hens, who weren't the least bit fazed by the snow and took it all in their stride....

Then there were mince pies......lots of them.....

and the beautiful rainbow tree that was chosen with care and cut by my son....

There is always laughter.....and this year a lot of it was caused by a pinky purple wig that Santa Claus brought Flossie........

my hubby looked more than a little creepy in it.....eughh.....sorry....!

and my lovely Mum couldn't stop laughing in it.....

There were lots of gorgeous presents - this wonderful fabric was from my fab friend Lisa

and this notebook from my son will be perfect for making a List-Making Girl like me, (wish you could feel it, it's kind of embroidered on the top and is very touchy-feely!)

and my sister gave me something every girl should have:

I wonder how long it will last?

Hope you and yours had a good one too! xxx

I'm dreaming......

of a White Christmas........
oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!!!!!!!! xx

Some Christmas favourites.....

have made their way out of the attic again.....

First of all, there's Santa, waiting patiently for the real one by the wood burner.Then there's the Christmas bunting I made last year, hanging above the beautiful mermaid print by my lovely friend Lisa.And a sign for Santa, to make absolutely sure he stops here (plus a very polite letter for him from Floss).Then there's the 'rainbow' Christmas tree. Every year, I have a theme, usually 2 colours, very calm, very 'designed' - sometimes pink and silver, often white and silver. But this year, in honour of all the rainbow crafting that has been going on this year, I chose pink, yellow, blue, green, red and purple. A decision that was met with whole-hearted child approval!!

Oops, is it really only 9 days?!!!

There has been some crafting going on around here, Flossie did the above picture last night, from felt of course, I am just loving the snow!!

Yes, I must admit, it's getting very Christmassy around here!!

Christmas wishes to all!! xx

A start...

After a successful Craft Market on Saturday, during which I made my usual list of Things To Do This Week, I spent most of Sunday making pencil rolls and button charm bracelets.

From past experience, I have discovered that it's better to work in 5 or 6's than aim as I used to for making 10 of something.Not only do you risk falling entirely out of love with whatever it is you are making when you know you've still got another 5 to go, and you can start to feel like a craft 'factory' which is so not the point of handmade! But also, you might end up as I once did with 10 or 12 of one thing and nothing else!

So I now make in handy 5 or 6's . With the pencil rolls, I made 5 simply because in a spare moment last week, I had already cut the felt strips and had enough for 5!

I have altered my previous design and decided to try the rainbow inners in felt. You know by now my love of felt! and it's soft warmth really lends itself to being in a pencil roll. You can almost imagine the pencils sighing with relief as they are returned to their cosy pockets after a hard day's colouring!!

I'm really pleased with how they're turned out and have actually managed to list some already in the Etsy shop.

Having exhausted my stack of pre cut felt strips, I then turned to the button charm bracelets as the evening wore on..

I have no time to waste this week as I am absolutely determined to get a little bit more organised for the Christmassy fairs that are rushing towards me! Still haven't made any Christmas decorations but at least I'm on the way with the stocking of the craft stall!

I particularly love the Coffee and Cream charm bracelet, loving the different browns and creams.

But I also have a soft spot for the flowers as usual....

Actually, the LIME one is a delight too....

..nope, can't decide on a favourite - just love all the buttons!!!

Okay, I have to say it - my name is Tanya and I am a button-oholic!!!!! There I've said it - anyone else coming out?

The bracelets come gift-boxed and it is really satisfying to see them sitting ready in their smart boxes...

at least they're ready for Christmas even if I'm not!! x

A little bit of Christmas and an early gift...

Well, I have spent nearly all day on the computer, updating the supplies website with all manner of lovely things - amongst them some Christmas, yes you did read correctly - Christmas supplies, some cute little Christmas Tree buttons, holly sprigs, presents and Santa buttons. I love them all and I must say, I did begin to feel a little Christmassy excitement when I was photographing and loading them onto the website. (I had to keep that bit quiet though, as S. belongs to the 'no sign of Christmas before December brigade!!') But for those of you who do like a little bit of early Christmas, here's a sneak preview.....don't tell the others!!

Well, it did take quite a long time as my hyperlinks kept moving unexpectedly every time I updated a page so things weren't linked properly. Don't know why, but it was very frustrating!!

I managed to sort it out though and I must say I am quite pleased with how it's all looking now. It leaves me free to do some actual creating now that all the admin type jobs are getting done.

I have soooo many plans for things I want to make that sometimes I feel paralysed not knowing what to do first!

My daughter Flossie, as she is known here, hasn't had that problem this weekend. She asked for some felt and disappeared for a while then presented me with this beautifully wrapped surprise...

I opened it to find this:-

a beautiful little lavender-smelling duck - it was a real lump at the back of the throat moment - she was so proud of the little fellow and you could tell she really wanted to keep him but generous as she is, she wanted me to have him as well!

We're going to share him. xx