For Ella

I sewed this up today for Ella, a cover for her prized PSP, its got her favourite Harvest Moon game on it & absolutely MUST be kept safe .....needed a nice padded or quilted cover.
Out with the scrap bag, cutting, piecing, sewing & viola....... a PSP protector

A heart cause I love her & cause its almost valentines....well Its still over two weeks away but I love an excuse to sew a heart onto something

She loves it, I'm happy!!!!!!!
Also finished up that lil owl guy while relaxing in front of DS 9 (star trek) I know.....bit freaky right!!!!

Ain't he sweet.....................made another one of these

Oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And almost finished this

A much needed scarf in much needed CK colours eeeeek can't wait to wear it, its real long & I've used up loads of ends, excuse to buy more wool heh heh !!!!!!

Thanks for visiting
Have a great evening
Karen xxxxx

Lots of sweetness

Yep.....it was one of those family time weeks. Lots of baking & eating & relaxing crochet & crafting.
I do feel refreshed.......& a few pounds heavier. But in fairness the weather is so bad, stepping outside your front door is just way too much of a challenge.
So baking.............colors are real bad, so just insert pink or chocolate where appropriate

Brownies of course with pink buttercream icing, lasted all of ten minutes, goodness it was like a feeding frenzy, would understand in a house full of boys, but I've got all ladies (hmmmmp) here!!!!

This was just for Aidan & me, shortbread with christmas mince filling (I have Four jars leftover) oh yum!!!
This was just scrummy, ate it for breakfast, lunch & dinner & of course with all the cups of coffee in between...what a glutton....I would do it all over again.

Ella's mini cupcakes....24 gone in a flash....I swear my intention when baking is to have something nice in a storage container for a few days, you know if a visitor or two should pop by (custard creams for the guests)
These were really pink & pretty with chocolate on top...I love Ella cupcakes.

Orange cake with cream cheese topping......now this one we did share, I brought it to a friends house on Saturday evening to eat after we feasted on the most delicious curries, three different types, ohhhh my poor digestive system.!!!!!!

So to little bits of crafty goodness, all while sitting on my sofa, I couldn't move........too much food not enough exercise....back to fitness this week DEFINITELY
I crocheted this wee hat for my friends baby......

And a pair of felt baby booties, the pattern for the booties is from Heather Bailey over here at her blog.
They're called bitty booties & the pattern is free, have a peek at the flickr group for them, lots of sweet eye candy.

Making some valentines gifts also, a cute owl with hearts, will post it when finished. Made some of these a few years back here, think it was my first ever blog post. The pattern for these are from Juicy Bits blog, real nice to make.
Also did some work on this quilt, squaring up the blocks & so on, also added a block of my own

Such a nice week, family, friends, food.............& stitching, absolute heaven, this week is back to reality.
Ah well, I love it anyway
Hope you are all having a nice evening
Thank you soooo much for dropping by, I love hearing from you
Lots of love Karen x

Its a Girl

Finished just in time......our friends welcomed their new baby girl on Sat, baby girl number five :)
What a treat.....a pretty lil girl to dote on, babies are about the greatest blessing in life
I finished her quilt yesterday, hope she likes, hope she gets lots of snuggles from it, hope it becomes something to treasure for her.

I can't wait to give it to her, more though, I can't wait to see her & smell that sweet baby smell on her little head..........oh but i love to do that!!!!!!!
Can't wait to see her four big sisters flock around their warm, cute lil sibling & be delighted with her....JOY!!!

On a different note her's my quite grown up baby at her cosplay convention.....Bethany as Serah!!!!!

I think we make a pretty good costume making team.........she's already planning more  & a few of her con friends are looking to get costumes made also...........maybe its my calling!!!!!!!

Later today when Ella gets home from school we are having a baking day....in reality its cupcakes & brownies........love baking with her & then of course enjoying our fares afterwards with a nice cup of coffee.
Tune in to Ella's blog for a baking post
See you all soon
Lots of love Karen x

Quilts & Hearts

A sweet friend of ours is due her fifth baby in the next few days, she's at the last frustrating stage of wondering is it ever going to happen???????
Any one else remember that feeling.....whoa I certainly do as I was overdue with all four of mine.
Seriously I was not a joy to be around, my poor husband was THE MOST patiently abused man ever (I jest of course), but it is a tense time.
So a baby quilt is on the way, I really think handmade gifts are so special & as they are a pretty special family I had to get cracking fairly fast!!!!!!
Don't know the sex so fairly neutral colours in a simple scrappy stripe pattern

I'm not sure whether to add a border or keep it simple, am thinking a light sweet green colour????

Went shopping this morning for wadding & some backing fabric, got a cute light blue gingham, babyish I think, hope to finish it this weekend, I'll post it on Monday hopefully.

She doesn't know about my bloggy space so it'll be safe to post.

I am getting so much use from my scraps, its a lot of fun & real thrifty, a must these days.

Also, I have caught the heart bug over the past week, valentine's just around the corner, & our wedding anniversary, & I have to say I am totally besotted with my sweet guy :)

Here's a peek at the beginning of what I hope will be a lavishly, full of hearts, Feb

Some pretty trims (got more this morning) & an unstuffed work in progress (just remembered I forgot to buy the filling grrrr). I'll just have to wait & fill more next week, cause I am gonna make lots :)
Actually there's a beautiful crochet heart tutorial over at Attis 24,  a gorgeous heart made by Lucy & a link for the pattern, absolutely lovely.
Am thinking some of those too.................!!

Other lil hearts at home, might try counting the hearts I have hanging around the house, would be funny to know how many I have obsessively made over the years, I do so love hearts,
Sophie & Bethany were at Lauren's place a few weeks back & decided to count the cupcakes she has collected (cupcakes are her thing) I think they totted up 126 including motifs....cute!!!!!

One last heart, this is the latest heart I received from one of  my quilt bee friends, perfect.
I sat & admired it endlessly while sipping tea & munching on some homemade by Sophie cookies YUM!!!!
Ohhhhhhhh just noticed there's a wee heart on the mug too, never spotted that before.....ok nuff about hearts, they are sweet though :)  !!!!!

Well my friends I hope you all have a wonderful weekend
thank you so much for dropping by & reading my endless waffle :)
Lots of love Karen xxxxx

Valentine Cushion

Another finish this week, I feel good, two in one week, about time though eh!!!!!!
I started this cushion months ago, not intending it for anything special, but now that February is just round the corner.....it becomes a valentines cushion :).

Looks sweet with all the pink on Ella's bed, but I think I'll pop this in my shop & see if it'll sell
Its lined & quilted so pretty sturdy
Some close up detail with buttons hearts & a teeny felt flower

Colours look better in this pic, Bethany bought a new canon & we're trying to get used to the newness & the fact that its a far better camera than my usual.........better photos in the future I hope!!!!!!
Simple valentine I love you to bits detail......for that someone special .....or for yourself or myself if it doesn't sell.

I do love Heather Bailey fabrics, always a treat to sew.
Bethany's costume is done, looks cool, she's even got this amazing bow (weapon) thing to go with it....non lethal of course, well lets hope!!!!!
No it is complete harmless, made from pretty flimsy mdf type stuff.
Can't wait to see it all on her.

That's my little ramble for today, I'm off now for a longgggggggggggg browse on your blogs, my fav past time
See you soon
Lots of love Karen

For Bethany

For the last two days & probably for the next two days I have been & will be working on yet another cosplay costume for my girl (beths). This is a pretty complex design, so I'm looking forward to putting my wee feet up this evening & hooking up another row in this NEW crochet project.....gosh you'd think I'd finish what I have already but this was in my heart & just wouldn't go away. I've done one row, number two tonight :)

Its gonna be just pastels, sweet & marshmallowy................yeah that about describes the colors.
I have had this vision of a beautiful huge pastelly blanket on my bed for years, so here goes, fingers crossed as I tend to chicken out at small blanket stage & stick a border on for a tah dah, but I'm desperate for this one to grace my double bed............ will need lots of cheering on :).
And here's a preview of the costume....bad lighting so the colors are off but it gives you an idea of how it looks :) ................kind of !!!!!!

She made the jewellery bits herself, can't wait to finish, will prob have to wait for a decent photo from her, after the cosplay convention at the weekend.
Sooooooo its hooking, put the feet up, girls are making brownies , movie time!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you have a lovely evening too
Lots of love Karen xxxxxx

Still Here!!!!!

Yes I'm still here in blogland after a totally unplanned break from my crafting space.
I did take a wee sabbatical from sewing & crocheting & any such handy work for a time over the holiday season.
Before I waffle some more I must say A very belated Happy New Year to all my my online friends, hope you all had the most wonderful time :).
I did manage to get a lil bit of work done.....this scrappy quilt for instance

Finished, complete, a Tah Dah for the first time in a long time.
It feels good to complete something at last & I am pleased with it.

A scrappy quilt deserves a scrappy border, I do like it..........

Lots of yummy scrappy  colours...................

Am so happy with how colorful it is, I can't wait to start another, lots of scraps to be used up, how nice they look all put together in a cute quilt.

I'm working on a few other projects also.....long term projects......here's how they are progressing
Crochet blanket......sadly neglected cause of my crochet sore hand (recovered now) so back to it

My cross stitch sampler, a real long termer ......enjoyable though

And a kitchen makeover, a repaint, a much needed makeover

I'm about half way through this, will show you some more detail during the week....got some lovely prints to frame online, just the trick with my wee space
Well thats my news for now, hope to be back soon with more crafty endeavors
Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead
Karen xxxxxxx