The green man.....and other tales!

I've been doing all kinds of things since my last post. Firstly I've had quite a few orders to make. Some have been completed and are now packed up ready to ship, and some I'm busy sewing up. I have managed to get these into my Folksy shop...

.......but these........

....didn't make it to the shop and were part of the order which I've just completed. There will be more shortly in various colours and shapes!
Once I've completed my current orders I shall be making items for (dare I say the word...) Christmas, but I shall also have some Halloween ones too.
There is just one set of Halloween cupcakes ready and these will go in the shop this week, with more to follow.
I've been working on (when time has permitted) other projects of my own. One was my little wooden three drawer chest. It did look like this..

....but it's had a couple of coats of white emulsion....

.....then I dry brushed various colours into it.....

...Mick wondered what I was doing at this stage! Then I sponged it all over with stone, cream and taupe. It was at this stage I forgot to take a picture (too eager) and now after using star and crown stencils and some gilt cream it looks like this......

....It isn't quite finished, I have to decide what sort of drawer knobs it should have, and sort out the drawer linings, but it's almost there. I have another box ready and waiting to do, this time I might cover it like I did with this...

which I did a few years ago!
This ...

...I bought a while ago, from a gift shop whilst we were on holiday. They only had the one so I snapped it up. It didn't look right just plain terracotta, so after two coats of a pva/water mix to seal it, it got this treatment. One coat of white...

....then it was painted with two shades of green.....

....then he was treated to gold, silver, bronze and copper wax.
Here he is, in all his glory.....

I'm so pleased with him. I want another one now to compliment hin on the garden wall.
With all my yarns bought for the next few months knitting I now have get my storage sorted. Once my current orders are shipped I shall tackle that job. I am still sewing and did manage to get a new set of pyjamas made ready for winter. I also have some fairies to sew for our grand daughters for Christmas. I had planned to make three, but in the next few weeks I shall know if I need to make four. Baby is due anytime and it we don't know whether it's a boy or girl!
Don't you just love surprises!
Happy crafting!

Sweet treats!

An update on a few things which I've just listed in my Folksy shop.
There are three sets of ices.....

...... some of my large cream/fruit tarts..

.....and a set of cupcakes...

.....I'm trying hard to catch up with myself after having a lovely break in Dorset.
I still have lots of new things in the pipeline. I've been offered a permanent place in our local farm shop, which I'm delighted about, and also they're having a fun day in September. So I have extra items to make for that!
I'm also working on my own projects ( when I can) but we're spending quite a bit of time on the garden, changing and rearranging. We'll get there, in the end!
I've been trying to change my little room around, but that task isn't going to plan. I have managed to create two piles of fabric though. One for my jumbo knitting project, (to go with the mixed yarns in the last post) and one for a rag rug which I want to make. When I'll get to start that is another matter. But, I'd rather have too much to do than nothing at all!!

Summer projects

At last my patio set is finished. It came to an abrupt halt for a while as I had orders to finish, but here it is....

....it was quite breezy yesterday when I took the picture, but I'm very happy how it's turned out. Now all we have to do is give the patio set another coat of cream paint.
I have a few others projects lined up for the coming few weeks, one will be using these gorgeous fabrics....

.....I'm hoping to make three summer dresses and I know I'll have some fabric left over to add to something else too!
This beautiful piece was given to me by a friend....

.... it was a long green corduroy coat (1970's), and this beaded panel was down the left front. The colour is divine, (green being my favourite colour) and the beaded rose panel is just sumptuous. Take a closer look at the beads....

...what am I going to do with it? Well, I'm afraid all the beads are going to be taken off the fabric and are going to be sewn on to something else. The piece is quite heavy and measures approximately 24" x 16" so I wouldn't want to use it as it is. I wish I had the rest of the coat, it was only a size 10 and my friend had kept the coat in her wardrobe for many years ( even though it no longer fitted her) not wanting to part with it, until now. It wasn't my size either, but it would have been lovely to see it in one piece!
I am still knitting and am currently making more items for my Folksy shop. I've had quite a few shop sales and through personal contact just lately, and there are only a few items still available. My Folksy shop is closed from today for two weeks. But after then I'm hoping to be restocked with summer themed goodies.
I've also got a couple of projects lined up for this little lot...

.... there seems to be a buzz about " extreme knitting"....

.... it's nothing new, I can remember it as " jumbo knitting" when I was a child.....

....mixing strips of fabrics and yarns.....

....and creating something different....

......my late father made the large needles as at the time there were none available. I still have some, but they are easy to make and cost a lot less than buying them ready made. But more on that next time.
For now, it's back to the sewing machine!

Summer fruits

Just a quick update to say I have just added more items to my shop.
Here's a quick view, chocolate dipped strawberry ....

....strawberry cream.....

......chocolate and banana....

....these have been very popular so I had to make more!
This is one of my new ones, orange cream and kiwi fruit....

....I still have a few more new ones but they aren't available just yet!
As summer's almost here (we hope) I've made more ices and ice creams. They were so popular last year. Here's my new ones.....

...different selections will be available shortly, and some of last years favourites.....

....we all love these chocolate ices don't we?
There will be more burgers and hotdogs in the shop by the end of May.
Now all we need is the sunshine!!!

Cakes and more!!!!

It wasn't intentional to leave it so long before I posted again, it's just that the last few weeks have gone like a blur! I've been really busy knitting as last month I was invited to take a table at the local farm shop. The dilemma was, how many items to take! So I had three weeks to crack on and see what I could make, and fulfilling orders already taken.
I didn't know how big my space was going to be so I decided to lay display on my dining room table and this is what it looked like....

....I was swapping and changing things to see how it looked....

.....I made some old favourites......

.....and some new items......

....all in all I was quite pleased with myself and I even made enough items to add to my Folksy shop.
For the next week I'm hoping to catch up on my home projects. My little wooden box chest has now received a coat of primer and two coats of white paint, and I shall hopefully be getting to the exciting part of decorating it this week. I shall also be finishing the patio furniture set which I began three weeks ago before my little "rush"!
I have four yards of gorgeous Robert Allen fabric from 1993. It was given to me a while ago, and I'm using this for my pation set. The two round cushions are made I just have to make the tablecloth. All will be revealed shortly, I hope!
I am still knitting, I have some new designs I'm working on. I have to try them out on the family first, to make sure they pass the "test".
Just in case anyone is wondering, the cupcake stands are from Morrison's.
....

....they are just the thing to display treats, real or otherwise.....

....it also means that I can save my vintage cake stands for special occasions, and there's less chance of me breaking them!
Happy crafting everyone!

Mice and cupcakes

It's been a few weeks since my last posting. That's because I've been fullfilling all my orders. One in particular was quite a feat, 200 mice to be exact. I don't have any pictures of the little chaps as they are going to be used as a logo for a new company which is being developed. They are now safely at their new home.
I also had some cupcake orders to complete, and they too are now finished and delivered. I'm still on cupcakes, and my new designs are still to be made. However I have just put these in the shop....

along with these....

....I have a few other projects on the go, but as is always the case, time is never on my side. I'm sure that everyone feels the same!
One of my projects is this love little wooden box....

It was given to me a while ago. I have sanded it all down, it just needs one more sand with some fine sand paper and I'm going to paint it. I've been looking through one of my books at some of the finishes....

I have done quite a few pieces of furniture and pots etc before, but I'm not quite sure on the finish on this piece. I quite like this finish....

....and i also like this too...

...I have loads of paints, all I have to do is make a choice! The hardest part I think!!!
With a new baby due to be born into the family in September I have baby projects to think of too. But more of those later.There's also the gardening to do, I love being in the garden, I have seeds to sew and plants to put in. There's always plenty to do here, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Cupcakes, strawberries and chocolate!!!!

Well, here are a couple of pictures of my new cupcakes, at long last! I'd hoped, by now, that I would have at least three to show you, but I have been fulfilling orders so I've had to delay for a short while.
Anyway, strawberries and chocolate, here we go...

....this idea came from some real ones which I made last year. I try to knit what I see (and eat) if you know what I mean.
I thought 'd make them all slightly different. The first two are in chocolate cases...

... with two different toppings, one with a strawberry (just as it comes) the other with a milk chocolate dippping on it.
The second two are in springtime colour cases....


each with lashings of toppings and finished with a strawberry, one "as it comes" and the other with a dark chocolate dipping on it.
It's a good job they're not real as I don't think they would have lasted very long!!!!!
I have also been making more of these....

.... but only ordered ones at the moment.
I'm still working on my greetings cards, now I have a new laptop (which I have to say is taking me a while to get used to)my graphics programme runs much faster. Sadly I'm not "running" along with it! Maybe I will when I get used to it!!
There's a lot of mice in the house at the moment. Not real ones I'm glad to say, it's a special order but I have to keep that under wraps for now.
Hopefully it won't be long until I can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. Roll on spring, it's almost here. Happy crafting everyone!