To My Secret Santa!

Just a quick post to say many thanks to my secret santa, I recieved some wonderful goodies all just delightful, it was great to get lovely gifts from likeminded friends.

Here are my delights:

This is the first thing I saw when I opened the bag and I had a right laugh, I though my Santa had eaten the other half (I probaly would have) and that it was to share between us until I found the top half and realised it has just broken in transit!

Just look at all the goodies: Chocolate, Candles, Plaques, Scrapbooks, Bowls, Ribbons, Buttons, Fabrics...The buttons were just amazing, the christmas pudding salt and pepper made it's way onto our table in time for Christmas Lunch, and the candle has been burned giving off it's christmas message and amazing smell...

This beautiful handmade christmas scrapbook was just so beautifully done...

Wasn't I just spoiled rotten!! I did guess who my Secret Santa was ~ I used my powers of deduction and realised quite soon that it was my lovely friend Jackie of Sew Special Bears ~ so again, many thanks my lovely!

I sent my parcel at the end of November (just to be sure!) and I have not seen my partner blog for ages so I hope it reached her.

A big thanks has to go to other lovely blog friends Rebecca and Lynda for organising this, what a great idea it was many thanks my dears! xx

See you all soon.

With love.

*** Merry Christmas ***

Just popping in on this Christmas Eve to wish all you friends old and new a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy Happy New Year.

So many thanks for your kindness, encouragement and support over this last year since I started blogging, I will be back in the New Year.

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Sorrowful Interlude...

Hi ladies, just wanted to pop in to say due to unexpected events I will be missing from blogland for the next few weeks.


We have just had the worst weekend ever and the way I feel it would be wrong of me to post about little things I have made when there is huge sadness in my heart at the minute.
I will be back in the new year, but don't think I have forgotten you all, I will still be following just not posting.
Take care and have a fantastic Christmas.
With love.

Another Scarf

I found some lovely grey Rowan purelife and snaffled up 3 100g balls of beautiful British Wool to make another of the chunky cable scarves.

I have had to model it for you as my little model Thomas was out playing in the snow!

I had about 3/4 of a ball left and in my madness I attempted to make an ear warmer (following a pattern here recommended by the lovely Jacey ~ thanks!). Well after about two hours of crochet it dawned on me I didn't have enough wool to complete it, so I had to rip it all back (and it was all puff stitches which took ages) *gently weeps*.

I was a bit sad and instead I decided to make a huge grey wool flower to add to the scarf in the form of a brooch. I followed the pattern for the flower from the headband tutorial and I was quite pleased with it.

I attached a kilt pin type brooch back so that it can be used with the scarf, it's quite huge, I'm wearing it below as a brooch to give you an idea of how big it is!

(eta. looking at this again it does not look that big but trust me it is, my boobage makes it seem small ~eek!)

I think I will make more of these flowers they are lovely.

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Kandi's Christmas 2010 Giveaway Winner

Thank you all so much for entering, I find it incredible that you are all still reading my blog, its great to have your support and encouragement.

♥ Thank You all ♥

For this giveaway I added you all to a long list, some of you twice and due to time constraints I gave you all a number and copped out again and did a random number generator (sorry, it’s so impersonal, but practical).

The winning number corresponded to :

Amanda of Amanda Makes!!!

Congratulations honey there will be a box of pressies winging it's way to you shortly ~ thanks to you all for entering.

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Cath Kidston Home Cushion

Totally off the thread of Christmas today, I was watching Kirsties Homemade Home that I had recorded and an idea burrowed in .

I have been making home bits, I have been pottering with some CK Cotton Duck in one of my fave prints of hers Spray Flowers. I decided to make another cushion like the one I made a while back from recycled denim.

I took my trusty scissors to my friend's boyfriends favourite jeans, that sounds awful but they were past their best and he did 'donate' them to me via my lovely friend (Thanks Ryan!) :)

Sliced up jeans give quite a narrow strip of denim so I added my Cotton Duck to the top and bottom, together with some of my favourite Fenwick's check remnant and came up with this:

I cut and bondawebbed (I know that's not even a word!!) the letters then appliqued them with a little zig zag stitch to the front. I overlapped the flowers onto the back to give it a little bit of niceness. This is a full size cushion so will fit most standard inserts.

I added the flowery fabric to the zip ends to perk it up a bit!

I gave my new labels a little run out too.

I have taken a little shine to this and it might end up in my lounge rather than in my gift pile, what do you think?

p.s. don't forget there is still time to enter my giveaway which closes tomorrow.

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Cross Stitch Christmas Cards

Thanks for all the responses to my Christmas Giveaway - I'm so glad you like my little makes.
I feel the need to add that I didn't make those little doggies they are from Wilkinson I was put on to them by Annie the Felt Fairy and I have snaffled a few up. My giveaway will include handmade and bought gifts ~ there that's that cleared up :)

I have been crafting like a little good un' and I wanted to show you these.

I'm not 'in to' cross stitch really but I can turn my hand to it if I have to, and when I saw these little cross stitch card kits in Hobbycraft I had to have them.

They took an age as I don't do this very often but it's nice to step out of your comfort zone and make something different sometimes. I was a bit sad when I looked in the box and found that I had finished them all!

Once finished I fixed the aida by machine sewing it to the card to keep it in place and I will delve into my card making drawers for some stickers and sentiments to clag on them. I'm really enjoying making Christmas bits, I will be sorry when it's all over!

I couldn't let the day go by without mention that it's my 7th Wedding Anniversay today, 7 years ago today we were stood in this beautiful old castle promising ourselves to each other forever;

And joining our two little families together to make one big one;

Langley Castle, Hexham, Northumberland 2003

I love thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints,
I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Snipped from Elizabeth Barrett Browning ~ How Do I Love Thee?

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Kandi's Christmas Giveaway ~ NOW CLOSED

Hey lovelies! As I am getting all excited for Christmas and in the spirit of the season I thought it was time to share, so here we go my Christmas Giveaway!

There will be more than those few bits I have shown here but I love surprises so I want to send some to you, it will mainly be my bits that I have handmade with a few added extras.

Simple Rules:

To enter the giveaway you don't have to follow me but I do need to be able to contact you. If you don't have a blog please leave a valid email address.

Just leave a comment on this post and I will add you to the list.

If you have your own blog and if you wish, please add me to your sidebar and link to this giveaway and I will add you again. Please let me know if you do and I will add you twice.

I will draw the winner in one weeks time on the 8th December and I will post out as soon as I can (snow permitting!), hopefully just in time for Christmas.

Good Luck x

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Christmas Movies

As I am in the Christmas mood, I just gotta share one of my favourite Christmas Movies: A Christmas Story, not many people have seen it and it's a shame, it's for all of us out there who have never had a perfect christmas, if you get the chance watch it in full, here is the trailer:

p.s. I'm planning a little Christmas Giveaway and will post about it tomorrow!

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Cooking ~ me?

There is something about this weather that makes me want to cook. It's bloomin' freezing up here in Northumberland and it's snowing like mad ~ this was my garden this morning.


It looks beautiful and I love it when I can watch it falling in front of the old lamp post in the street (from my sofa, through the window with the fire roaring I might add!) and it feels like you could be in Narnia, but it's a bugger when you have to actually go anywhere, the roads are a nightmare and work and kids schools are 25 miles away! This morning the Police are stopping people trying to get on the A1 asking if their journey is really necessary! I find it quite funny how the news is dominated by it all, as up here snow is not such a novelty. When I was living in Durham we had snow in June more than once!

Anyhoo, all this cold makes me want to cook. Well it's no big secret that I'm not much cop in the Kitchen, I muddle through. I can cook a roast, make lasagne from the jars, and heat up Aunt Bessies yorkies ~ my kids wonder why they don't get a Christmas Card from this Aunt Bessie as she features in our life a lot! But I try; I have all the cookbooks but just never find time to get stuck in, well this week I did, I got my cupcakes book out and had a go
(you notice I didn't cook a hearty stew, no I made cakes ~ is it any wonder I'm fat?!?!) :

And it worked a treat, I was a bit heavy handed with the icing dusting but they were beautiful and went in a flash, lemon butterfly cakes!

This book was about £2 from Asda in the sale last year and there are just loads of treats in here, these are a few of my favourites:

Get these; button cookies, two of my favourite things together:

If you want any of these recipes let me know and I'll copy em out; is that allowed ~ if It's not then I won't but message me anyhow ;)

Oh and I wanted to show you this, my local Ethel Austin is selling these metal signs, lots of different ones all with a vintage feel, they have a pink 'Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake Sign' for example, this one is A5 size and was £5, they have larger ones for £10:

Keep Warm and Carry On!

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

More Christmas Makes

Well I have been knitting for England this last week or so, knocking up scarves and facecloths like a good un ~ they are all gifts for Christmas or Birthdays so I feel like I am making a little progress. It's rather rude of people to have birthdays in December I think (I have 8 and a Wedding Anniversary)~ although some of the best people do; mine is 1 week before Christmas (imagine how much that annoys everyone) and my best friend's is New Years Eve.

Anyhoo, here is the finished cream scarf - it's chunky and toasty and I could keep it but I don't have time to make another, my boy was quite taken with it he gets excited at my little makes and tries everything on.

Still on the subject of makes for Christmas are these beaded snowflakes.


I made these from my stash of beads, I got some lovely crackle glaze beads and mixed em up with what I had and I think they turned out quite nice, very traditional colours. Actually I just noticed looking at them in the photo they look like skewered grapes!

I added one to the middle of my rag wreath.

I got this idea from Jacqui over at Bunny Mummy, she kindly did a tutorial and she is having a rag wreath giveaway (ends 28th Nov) so pop over and have a look ~ (thanks Jacqui) it's miles better than my feeble attempt.

I used some green gingham, some Christmas fabric I picked up earlier in the year at the charity shop (I think it was supposed to be a table cloth but it was a queer size), and some red gingham ribbon from my stash. I didn't have any garden wire but I found some size 8 jewellery wire and I used that instead. If I sneeze near it, it looses it's shape so next one will have to be stronger wire, but it will do for my first attempt I think.

In the spirit of Christmas I think I will have to do a little Christmas Giveaway, I'll have a think of what to add and will post it soon.

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

*****Emergency Broadcast*****

Just had to share this, just got a text from my lovely friend (thank you xx) to tell me that Cath Kidston site has 15% off for today only, so if you were after some Christmas Gifts today might be the day to get em:


That's it, short and sweet!

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Completed Scarf and Christmas Excitement

Well, I finished my scarf here it is, it's not easy to photograph a long scarf but here we go:

I am a good way through the cream one and it's lovely, there is fluff on everything I wear whilst knitting it.

I think this might make a nice pressie for my Niece who is 19, lovely Linda from Hookin' with LaaLaa pointed out that there are similar scarves to this currenly in Accessorize for about £20.

I ordered some new labels to sew into my handmade makes, I don't want all of my family to know about my blog, not sure why really, but it's my little place and many of them are not 'into' the same things I am and I am not ready to expose myself to them all yet, does that make sense or am I coming across as a bit of a paranoid nutter?

Anyhoo the labels I have are Kandipandi ones so these ones are mainly for family makes, this is them; they are from Woven Labels UK and I have spent a couple of hours this morning sewing them into my little makes that I plan to give for Christmas.

I'm getting right into the swing of Christmas now.
I have booked a day off work just to go into town to do my shopping and see Fenwicks Christmas Window Display, this is a North East thing you can see last year's photos here, they really go all out and you can hardly get near for little kids faces pressed up against the glass, magical!

Still on the subject of Christmas the fabulous Annie the Felt Fairy put me onto these little beauties in Wilkinson, I'm not a dog person as such (I'm badly allergic to em :( ) but I do love doggie bits and bobs:

80p each - you can't fall out with the price. They are rather CK esque without the CK price. They had some other nice bits in too I picked these up:

And whilst scouring the Charity Shops I got some of my Christmas Cards, I had bought a load in the Barnardos sale last January but I can't fine em anywhere, I am convinced that they will turn up now I have bought these.

I was scouring the charity shops for something bright to wear next friday at work, its a charity day for Brake - from their site 'Brake exists to stop the 6 deaths and 62 serious injuries that happen on UK roads every day and to care for families bereaved and seriously injured in road crashes. '
Unfortunatley in the business in which I work; several of our colleagues have been injured or killed so we are doing our bit. The shameful thing is when I opened my wardrobe I had nothing bright to wear so went on the hunt, I have not found anything yet, I will have to think of something by Friday.

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~