tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19418451549964970132024-03-19T02:21:28.015-07:00Coffee & Cream...Life is Better with CaffeineCoffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-80006443824928752262014-04-28T01:54:00.000-07:002014-05-04T00:34:14.353-07:00Little Yellow Duck Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have you heard about <a href="http://thelittleyellowduckproject.org/" target="_blank">The Little Yellow Duck Project</a>? Handmade yellow ducks are left in public to be found and taken home, with a little label directing their new owners to the website. They can add to the duck map where they've found their duck and find out more about what the project is all about. It is to raise awareness of the need for people to become donors, how this simple act can transform and save lives. <br />
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I personally donated blood for years before falling into the "you can no longer donate" category. I'm on the organ donor list too, and more importantly, I've made it very clear to my family that if parts are usable after my demise, then I want them used. In the UK, next of kin can still override the decision to donate or not. <br />
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On to the fun part - the ducks! There are <a href="http://thelittleyellowduckproject.org/patterns/" target="_blank">free patterns</a> on The Little Yellow Duck Project website. Alan Dart has designed a knitted duck, Lisa van Klaveren has a crocheted duck and Jessica George offers a sewn duckling. All the patterns are easy to make and take very little supplies and time. I set myself a target of 6 ducks to release - 2 each of knitted, sewn and crocheted.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX7ATPobujGHMjNgU8v0wXj5voG4TZCGhX2ycJdzq96Aj5Hgipcs_ljNGmM4mGqz66rVq-f06Hz3CbJxixWFEGGpkChczhVa238VWyD8RHz9-5Q9rUo6NSlURO3s7bD6rqQxJd10X3laX/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX7ATPobujGHMjNgU8v0wXj5voG4TZCGhX2ycJdzq96Aj5Hgipcs_ljNGmM4mGqz66rVq-f06Hz3CbJxixWFEGGpkChczhVa238VWyD8RHz9-5Q9rUo6NSlURO3s7bD6rqQxJd10X3laX/s1600/027.JPG" height="390" width="400" /></a></div>
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I used the patterns on the website for the crochet and fabric ducks. My fabric ones have rather interesting head shapes, but I'm happy enough with them! I made two of the crocheted ducks, and I prefer the size of the larger one, hooked with DK yarn held doubled and a 4mm hook.</div>
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The knitted ducks were made using <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-reversible-duck-to-bunny" target="_blank">this free pattern</a> from Susan B Anderson. Because they're knitted in the round, there's no seaming. I modified the pattern to just knit the duck with a flat bottom:</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">CO 6, divide onto dpns -3 stitches on each needle. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Finally, I tied labels on with ribbon. There are <a href="http://thelittleyellowduckproject.org/tags/" target="_blank">cute free labels</a> on the website to print off and use. I wanted ones that also said "not suitable for children under 36 months" as they all have beads for eyes. I thought it would be fun to add a QR code too, which links directly to the Little Yellow Duck website. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">My labels print 6 to an A4 page, and if you want to use my labels too, here's the pdf (long pause whilst I try to work out how to get it in this post.....):</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9Q3UrzVwAolajYzRjljNmZwajA/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Little Yellow Duck Project Labels</a> pdf </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Labels for <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/people/ZoeJC" target="_blank">ZoeJC</a>, with "made with acrylic yarn and polyester fill" added <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9Q3UrzVwAolenVtLWRaRkkxNU0/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Zoe Duck Labels pdf</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">I just need to find some courage to leave them in public places now! Update: All my ducks are now wild!</span></div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-90946455316927251352013-02-27T17:11:00.000-08:002013-02-27T17:11:40.154-08:00Button JarAnother bit of playtime with the Sewing Jar digi stamp from <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.jp/2013/02/new-freebie-challenge.html" target="_blank">Birdie Brown</a>! This time I thought it would be fun to turn it into a decorative lid for a jar of buttons. I love having a big selection of buttons to chose from for craft projects and its one of my weaknesses when I go craft shopping - there's such a huge selection to chose from! Modern, vintage, handmade, plastic, wood, fabric...I adore them all. And they look wonderful stored in jars to admire, rattle and rummage through!<br />
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I used shades of purple Promarkers to colour the digi stamp, again with paper glaze to make the pins and glass shine. I mounted the cut out digi stamp onto a die cut circle, glued lace and ribbon around the jar lid and glued the topper on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgncW7QTK8qqCSJuIETzJ4YhKQGrFV0U8OctNGyHsguGmB2DdVem3E-5LlW8Iz6r6_TbfG4wArC6Kh_8MyHQ1V2mmwu7U82JrWLf8M4qQAyqTlZ6G35D5Ls37HIMuj5nQgCaLLBhLuxelci/s1600/button+jar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgncW7QTK8qqCSJuIETzJ4YhKQGrFV0U8OctNGyHsguGmB2DdVem3E-5LlW8Iz6r6_TbfG4wArC6Kh_8MyHQ1V2mmwu7U82JrWLf8M4qQAyqTlZ6G35D5Ls37HIMuj5nQgCaLLBhLuxelci/s320/button+jar.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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As Mother's Day is on the 10th March in the UK, I'd better get busy making a card and present for my wonderful mum! Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-63893357604118391572013-02-27T11:06:00.002-08:002013-02-27T11:09:57.162-08:00Popping in!So, I got a bit bogged down with Christmas, hence the lack of posts and the start of 2013 has just whizzed by! I did finally finish those socks for Dad - and the picture represents how December went (in a blur!)<br />
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Look at how close to finishing the toes I was before running out of yarn! My frugal streak kicked in, and I finished off with a different grey sock yarn rather than buying another ball. Sorry, Dad! I do love this herringbone pattern as they look really smart on but you need to be a little watchful as it drastically reduces the socks ability to stretch. They fit beautifully once they're on, but they do put up a little bit of a fight going over Dad's heels.<br />
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There are quite a few more Christmas projects to share, but for now I'm going to skip straight on to "now"! Namely, playing with the great free digi stamp offered by Torico at <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Birdie Brown</a>. It's sewing themed and gorgeous! This is what I made with it first....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolypAFcG4CXQNPaFoIdg9xUoA5F3UCCAf5wbsW3L2bpx_RqvkcjNCbpPQitXqwMlkI3l_-vmiK_5CTMB__4Kb2Zai0B3vJUQf679DMdaxoqop3FbK7Cg3sJ7LAcB8J3PyXroCu3LgqJ-S/s1600/sewing+card.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolypAFcG4CXQNPaFoIdg9xUoA5F3UCCAf5wbsW3L2bpx_RqvkcjNCbpPQitXqwMlkI3l_-vmiK_5CTMB__4Kb2Zai0B3vJUQf679DMdaxoqop3FbK7Cg3sJ7LAcB8J3PyXroCu3LgqJ-S/s400/sewing+card.png" width="340" /></a></div>
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I coloured the digi stamp with Promarkers in all the brown shades I own - the foxy brown I would love to find in a yarn to match, but that's another story! I added paper glaze to the pins and the "glass" to give it some depth. I used some free sewing themed papers from a craft magazine for the background and used my new Grand Calibur and dies (squee!). I coloured some dressmakers pins and pearl hearts to match and used a tiny bit of haberdashery ribbon from The Fabric House embellished with a very special button that my father made for me from a Rowan branch, tied on with 2mm ribbon. I really love how this card has turned out and am sorely tempted to send it to myself for my next birthday!</div>
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Entering into the following challenges:</div>
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<a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.jp/2013/02/new-freebie-challenge.html" target="_blank">Birdie Brown February Challenge</a> with huge thanks for this lovely stamp!</div>
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<a href="http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">I Love Promarkers</a> Lace and Pearl Challenge</div>
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<a href="http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafty Catz Weekly Challenges</a> - Dies and Punches</div>
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I have another project to share using this digi stamp, which I'll post once I've answered DS's call for food!</div>
<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-64776188810828232442012-11-29T15:28:00.000-08:002012-11-29T15:28:09.459-08:00Cactus ProcrastinationFirstly, thank you so much for all the lovely comments recently - I really do appreciate reading them and cherish the smiles they bring.<br />
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I'm still plugging away at the socks, but allowing myself to get easily distracted! I'm justifying it by making other Christmas projects on the list - there's lots to do and not much time to do it in! If I haven't posted on here with soggy sock blocking pictures, start nagging me to finish them...<br />
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So back to the distraction - a money card for my nephew. He's at the age where money is the ultimate present, which makes it a little impersonal so I've created a card to pop it in.<br />
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He loves cacti, and has nagged me in the past to grow some from seed for him. I didn't oblige, but I did knit him one - that counts, right? When I saw <a href="http://doodlepantryblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/doodle-pantry-digital-challenge-29.html" target="_blank">Doodle Pantry</a> were generously offering a free Christmas Cactus digikit for entering their November challenge, I couldn't resist - it's perfect, isn't it?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHoqNTdKCMtSsscgU7Z2m7KYcpQAGiB2LCaiFJqn5sFUZ6E40sPAd6ji1AyUHTyWBINO-ZTEy3GpYjfPuiJ4L61dcYpJm43og-pktazkoQKmg56nt0WqAhoMzlTZWFMz_S0UhE8Q3V9Xh/s1600/Jack%2527s+Card.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHoqNTdKCMtSsscgU7Z2m7KYcpQAGiB2LCaiFJqn5sFUZ6E40sPAd6ji1AyUHTyWBINO-ZTEy3GpYjfPuiJ4L61dcYpJm43og-pktazkoQKmg56nt0WqAhoMzlTZWFMz_S0UhE8Q3V9Xh/s400/Jack%2527s+Card.png" width="372" /></a></div>
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I've coloured the image with promarkers, and added glitter and glaze to the baubles. The backing papers and sentiment are from the same kit. I used distress inks in frayed burlap, faded denim and peeled paint on just about everything(!)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxM9e5zHr-s0CuMr48esMi6whQKJyB6__Z65kRgW7WIzhYQUuDRBegwhihd88UgB46i_TB1sQHA2LRC43UQcRWSTXyLqac_Jh9kAA1RTc7Nd-eKnxNmx8Qjb0zjXkOY9hShs1Uuzz25nk0/s1600/cactus1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxM9e5zHr-s0CuMr48esMi6whQKJyB6__Z65kRgW7WIzhYQUuDRBegwhihd88UgB46i_TB1sQHA2LRC43UQcRWSTXyLqac_Jh9kAA1RTc7Nd-eKnxNmx8Qjb0zjXkOY9hShs1Uuzz25nk0/s400/cactus1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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The parcel tag has a little pouch for the money and is embellished with more backing papers, card candi, ribbon and garden string. </div>
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I just need to replace those tatty notes with nice crisp ones and its good to go!</div>
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Entering into the following challenges:</div>
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Tags - <a href="http://anythingchallenge.blogspot.no/" target="_blank">Anything Challenges</a></div>
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Distressing - <a href="http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Passion for Promarkers</a></div>
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Sparkle, Sparkle, Sparkle - <a href="http://theresmagicintheair.blogspot.nl/" target="_blank">Cupcake Crafting</a></div>
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Anything Goes - <a href="http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">I love Promarkers</a></div>
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Ribbon or Trim - <a href="http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafts & Me</a></div>
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Numbers (um...on the money - is that allowed?) - <a href="http://nutcrafters.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Nutcrafters</a></div>
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Flowers - <a href="http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sweet Stampin'</a></div>
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Gifts - <a href="http://sweetnsassydigis.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sweet and Sassy</a></div>
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Time for a few more rounds of sock knitting; two at a time, top down...halfway across sole - not much further now!</div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-15007735876200643212012-11-26T15:18:00.002-08:002012-11-26T15:18:42.830-08:00More Handmade Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This isn't the first time I've knitted a strawberry clock, but this is the most flamboyant yet! (See the other two <a href="http://coffeeandcream2010.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/time-again.html" target="_blank">here</a>)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMxHYfzGp9W0rDtAwDpmWoYyyA8e9QMnv03Li3pKb8wyW4gMmlCn-Vn4Nc4cXIdQEZujYHGYzJef4Mx_4VNsb7430KYz6yBK9VXHA7wB1Y2qT4YW0LugRNlpMu2AJMONs8FnIfzW-sFAM/s1600/flower+clock.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMxHYfzGp9W0rDtAwDpmWoYyyA8e9QMnv03Li3pKb8wyW4gMmlCn-Vn4Nc4cXIdQEZujYHGYzJef4Mx_4VNsb7430KYz6yBK9VXHA7wB1Y2qT4YW0LugRNlpMu2AJMONs8FnIfzW-sFAM/s400/flower+clock.png" width="300" /></a></div>
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It's for my mother. Since she retired, she's taken up watercolours and has the most gorgeous garden studio to play in. It's painted the prettiest shade of duck egg blue, full of natural light with a glass desk and a wonderfully soft rocker in the corner to curl up in. Surrounded by the garden with its flowers and feathery visitors, it's a heavenly place to be.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwX3WC6vUvyl5LtHnbHLs1WwnCm2ozz1kQE7zPal4eKmEqlhOgKmXe5dnpNz2ofF2GwwCFxrGh_WxvDJFo2U7_FxLc7ecFJAU2R6KSibbbC5uPdgp8OoxWa1ccNEwacw_tFMT44EJNghlO/s1600/flowerclock.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwX3WC6vUvyl5LtHnbHLs1WwnCm2ozz1kQE7zPal4eKmEqlhOgKmXe5dnpNz2ofF2GwwCFxrGh_WxvDJFo2U7_FxLc7ecFJAU2R6KSibbbC5uPdgp8OoxWa1ccNEwacw_tFMT44EJNghlO/s400/flowerclock.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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To be honest, it's not a place where time matters, but she's loved my previous knitted clocks so it's time for one of her own.</div>
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I've knitted it in sumptuous yarns - angora, alpaca and crocheted flowers in pure wool. The white strawberry flowers are cotton just for a little ping. Ribbons and diamante butterflies fill the gaps and add a little more interest.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSWLI8ZMCNZJc269Hr8nzI2TE9n0Z1uihCxZo90N5OigRy6GPFfISyIb6oQ7gCepSVza-QA0oj3FqYetH0LqLJN-AimTCEbbkDZE3dbltlj3ojD3cDALnd1IXX0j45dVb4Dj8fwRE-5JKy/s1600/flowerclock1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSWLI8ZMCNZJc269Hr8nzI2TE9n0Z1uihCxZo90N5OigRy6GPFfISyIb6oQ7gCepSVza-QA0oj3FqYetH0LqLJN-AimTCEbbkDZE3dbltlj3ojD3cDALnd1IXX0j45dVb4Dj8fwRE-5JKy/s400/flowerclock1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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So easy to make this with love. The whole process is a joy. The socks I'm currently knitting for my father take more willpower to weave happy thoughts into - thin yarn, tiny needles and endless repetitive rows!</div>
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Entering into the Faux or Real Stitching challenge - <a href="http://anythingchallenge.blogspot.no/" target="_blank">Anything Challenge Blog</a></div>
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I've also made hmmm...it started out destined to be a tag, but I actually rather like it on its little easel as just a Christmas decoration. My starting point was the Kraft challenge - I've not tried using promarkers on this medium before. I've used the most basic of Kraft products, the humble brown paper packaging. The beauty of using this meant I could cut a sheet of it to go through my printer. As I have an Epsom, it naturally objected to this and I had to stick it to a sheet of copier paper to get it to run through.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAUCJMpgWgfvgsPhVfFS0XoBUZcu_Sds5bZo1bLjBkAh7x5sro1LA9NtCO4yhxb0v763IOFAKk9ny9UmcNxzd8e_yx2uRmNr52ao0G4jTsp1F35v_xwkG2ZZnnd8hyrS6d7K4gt0N0mBU/s1600/angel+tag.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAUCJMpgWgfvgsPhVfFS0XoBUZcu_Sds5bZo1bLjBkAh7x5sro1LA9NtCO4yhxb0v763IOFAKk9ny9UmcNxzd8e_yx2uRmNr52ao0G4jTsp1F35v_xwkG2ZZnnd8hyrS6d7K4gt0N0mBU/s400/angel+tag.png" width="296" /></a></div>
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The Angel caroller digi stamp is from <a href="http://deariedollsdigis.blog.com/" target="_blank">Dearie Dolls</a>, coloured with promarkers and a white pencil. I added papers printed from various Serif digikits, a wooden snowflake, ticket sentiment and a string and ribbon bow. There's distress inked edges on more or less everything - I love the stuff! Marvel at my restrain of not adding feathers this time - it was hard, I do have some pale brown ones....</div>
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Entering into the following challenges:</div>
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Colouring on Kraft - <a href="http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Passion for Promarkers</a></div>
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Don't be a square - <a href="http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Totally Gorjuss</a></div>
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Singing/and or Dancing - <a href="http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">I love Promarkers</a></div>
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Circles - <a href="http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafts & Me Challenges</a></div>
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Use 2 or more Patterned Papers - <a href="http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Divas By Design</a></div>
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Snowflakes-Stars-Sentiment - <a href="http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafty Catz</a></div>
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Now...back to those socks!</div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-23509283885661930772012-11-19T13:22:00.000-08:002012-11-19T13:22:06.141-08:00Christmas Geeky Gift MakingI do like to make presents, which is a good thing as everyone now expects them from me! Sometimes the inspiration comes from snippets of remembered conversations with the recipients and others are a direct request - like "More Socks!!" from Dad :)<br />
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Whilst being gifted 'that giraffe', Kay was hunting for a slimline diary for next year. Her requirements were geeky...batman...or Doctor Who and "not cute". She failed in her hunt, so I promised to take care of it for Christmas. I picked up a bland slimline diary and got to work...<br />
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I used printable fabric from Card Creations, and set about designing my own backing fabric. I was inspired by <a href="http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/703005" target="_blank">this tardis fabric</a> and used Serif to create my own. The printable fabric wasn't cheap and does print beautifully but the quality of the cotton itself is quite shameful. It's full of slubs, some of which are quite dark and is a perfect example of the cheapest cotton fabric available - meh. The strength of the glue used to adhere the fabric to the carrier sheet also makes the fabric quite crunchy and not particularly pleasant to sew with.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3e4fWCRepKNluUV3P_zvjwMlA-aDkqVkeTrQezCWXOZA2OHcGX7sdZhqDe6YkBW2Vn2MAFv64z94VArO1jSy3fthM5Je8qXMmhdldQWB-K0OUNEM6SEHOTfFW0vm-zlT2-NzcN2I8Zq4/s1600/diary.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3e4fWCRepKNluUV3P_zvjwMlA-aDkqVkeTrQezCWXOZA2OHcGX7sdZhqDe6YkBW2Vn2MAFv64z94VArO1jSy3fthM5Je8qXMmhdldQWB-K0OUNEM6SEHOTfFW0vm-zlT2-NzcN2I8Zq4/s400/diary.png" width="338" /></a></div>
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I added printable seam binding with her name on, ribbons and bells(!) and made and appliqued a felt batman logo. Doctor Who meets Batman...why not?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWS-9pNcw1KfTJlXXlkx3dtqekXA8dLbWwRAGrNxMErSaXlwwRk6t5t567PBpB98WvLjNu0zswINtvudExsFjlNUYcBrndQ2CzRsDLOcmnTDTl6Y03wjAgf-zPD27Y4U0JxwKwpnqOiH2K/s1600/diary1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWS-9pNcw1KfTJlXXlkx3dtqekXA8dLbWwRAGrNxMErSaXlwwRk6t5t567PBpB98WvLjNu0zswINtvudExsFjlNUYcBrndQ2CzRsDLOcmnTDTl6Y03wjAgf-zPD27Y4U0JxwKwpnqOiH2K/s400/diary1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can just see the lining peeking out in this picture - I chose a dotty fabric to tie in with her character!</div>
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And of course, a handmade gift needs a handmade box:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdwhR5B4v8Wd_Xo2EHd-MgH-5JOoUEEgq7h2cX9OWJ1UOIm43c07s53AeNbVotNpiTEZi6YtXv0jXdFe7fjYV6C8LNagjX9ZdAe3LcYLPilpA5EYwPgtSh-1rkH_c7XgejXsQ-iOYk2OTA/s1600/box2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdwhR5B4v8Wd_Xo2EHd-MgH-5JOoUEEgq7h2cX9OWJ1UOIm43c07s53AeNbVotNpiTEZi6YtXv0jXdFe7fjYV6C8LNagjX9ZdAe3LcYLPilpA5EYwPgtSh-1rkH_c7XgejXsQ-iOYk2OTA/s400/box2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I used Snowy Day from <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.jp/" target="_blank">Birdie Brown</a> (Torico, if you're reading this, the offer of sending you the box I made last time I was playing with your digi stamps still stands!), coloured it with Promarkers and layered it up on the box top. No need to glue things onto a badly blended hat on this one! Woo! I stuck to a purple/lavender colour palette to match the diary. The box itself is made from the reverse side of Centura Pearl card stock, that I ran through the printer.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPnjK2CjjCSmHWxg7sLCJiDyiqVuVpaLCDxvAJYuYU-UIND6Liob6rxrve-fxoiZDdYkLiS6_NyxV8W4fOylDsazyVemJrP22X_5XTNB5uchyBLFqEC7rvL-jTt2NXyVYOGO9CN4Tuzj8/s1600/box1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPnjK2CjjCSmHWxg7sLCJiDyiqVuVpaLCDxvAJYuYU-UIND6Liob6rxrve-fxoiZDdYkLiS6_NyxV8W4fOylDsazyVemJrP22X_5XTNB5uchyBLFqEC7rvL-jTt2NXyVYOGO9CN4Tuzj8/s400/box1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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There are glitter and glossy accents on the digi stamp and tag, along with a ribbon "belt" using a diamante buckle that was in with some craft supplies a colleague gave to me in exchange for altering a top for her.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha0txqASi2huoO1SuFWsGrOJgQtFuD6cA68K5nRLcrcjBdn9wSit6Bhd9GK2Gl6djdhAT3ZqezJpxG6Rypc_2bwxjzFuJP51XYHiDxJSvRLWr6KpLN3iZvNTFZI0MXkPWr7yott9tAOM1q/s1600/box.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha0txqASi2huoO1SuFWsGrOJgQtFuD6cA68K5nRLcrcjBdn9wSit6Bhd9GK2Gl6djdhAT3ZqezJpxG6Rypc_2bwxjzFuJP51XYHiDxJSvRLWr6KpLN3iZvNTFZI0MXkPWr7yott9tAOM1q/s400/box.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I still have a lot of presents to make, but boy does it feel good to get one under my belt! I have a strange urge to wrap this up in wrapping paper as well...anyone else get that?</div>
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Entering into the following challenges:</div>
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November Challenge - <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.jp/2012/11/november-freebies-challenge.html" target="_blank">Birdie Brown </a></div>
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A Christmas Present - <a href="http://nutcrafters.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Nutcrafters</a></div>
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Plain & Simple - <a href="http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Totally Gorjuss</a></div>
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November Colour Challenge - <a href="http://www.ribbongirls.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Ribbon Girls</a></div>
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Christmas Trees - <a href="http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">I Love Promarkers</a></div>
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Moon & Stars - <a href="http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Passion for Promarkers</a></div>
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Snow People - <a href="http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/theres-no-people-like-snow-people.html" target="_blank">Sweet Stampin'</a></div>
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Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-14427147290994138992012-11-16T04:25:00.000-08:002012-11-16T04:28:27.305-08:00FluffinessI found the most wonderful digi stamp at <a href="http://doodlepantry.com/freebies-page.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=16&category_id=8" target="_blank">Doodle Pantry</a> - it would be great for lots of different occasions throughout the year, but as the need for Christmas cards is at its greatest right now, that's what I went with. I coloured the image with Promarkers and made the little birds into robins. Following on from the "include *everything*" mentality that the <a href="http://coffeeandcream2010.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/warningultimate-christmas-ornament-below.html" target="_blank">giraffe card</a> caused, this is also an over-the-top card too :)<br />
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(I love how this picture looks like the finished card will be somehow elegant and tasteful...fooled you!)</div>
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Paper flowers, glitter, feathers, gems, stitching, beads, quilling, lace, ribbons, pearlescent printed card stock....</div>
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There is a complete childish glee in making this card. The little voice at my shoulder whispering, then screaming "LESS IS MORE!!" and the responsive blowing of a big fat raspberry as something else gets glued or stitched on! </div>
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Entering into the following challenges:</div>
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Use a Doodle Pantry Image DPDC29 - <a href="http://doodlepantryblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/doodle-pantry-digital-challenge-29.html" target="_blank">Doodle Pantry Blog</a></div>
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Untraditional Christmas Colours - <a href="http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafts and Me Challenge Blog</a></div>
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Shaped Cards - <a href="http://sweetnsassydigis.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sweet 'n Sassy </a></div>
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Anything Goes - <a href="http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Divas By Design</a></div>
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Lets Have Sparkle - <a href="http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafty Catz</a></div>
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Christmas Anything Goes - <a href="http://www.craftybloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafty Bloggers Network</a></div>
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Stitching Real or Faux - <a href="http://anythingchallenge.blogspot.no/" target="_blank">Anything Goes Challenge Blog</a></div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-83893064949927846972012-11-11T15:35:00.000-08:002012-11-11T15:35:18.584-08:00Unintentional Mouse Theme!The last two papercraft projects of the weekend before the sewing machine comes out!<br />
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First is a snowy mice digistamp from <a href="http://deariedollsdigis.blog.com/" target="_blank">Dearie Dolls</a>. It's a really cute image - I love the hanging hearts and the oversized button :) Coloured with Promarkers on Centura Pearl cardstock and mounted onto Kanban and ancient Sizzix Sizzles card/paperstock. The red star gems I bought recently - I clearly didn't look at them because the quality is awful; they're incredibly plastic-y, but I think you can get away with it on cards for distant relatives you haven't seen in decades...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyqXpRf_bwLfiuUQ06TqALjYLjIlPb3MByrFyoG86siZQPrNg45j2eXAp1PKox-T5fd8i5VpuLhGH33_6LvnMsRoqD-141Cm8z7AKRHqd3Q74ShsLgWPefCHtlUoryHc09_cMl7N-8RSxZ/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyqXpRf_bwLfiuUQ06TqALjYLjIlPb3MByrFyoG86siZQPrNg45j2eXAp1PKox-T5fd8i5VpuLhGH33_6LvnMsRoqD-141Cm8z7AKRHqd3Q74ShsLgWPefCHtlUoryHc09_cMl7N-8RSxZ/s400/010.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Entering it into the Reds Challenge at <a href="http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafts and Me</a> blog.</div>
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Secondly, a Thanksgiving inspired recipe - Pumpkin Pie. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in England, but we do like pie ;) Honestly, with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year I don't know how you do so many holiday preps so close together! I can't find the link for the image used - apologies if its yours. I don't have a pie coloured promarker...or a pumpkin coloured one either for that matter, so I've used blends to approximate them - love how you can layer them up!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZ9KI1d5ycXn5cSxrlxy8LFTnIQvSnirzao7XHl2xLhsNqslGKFMcCvNxQ4N08VuVUBJR3KyOPtsUhQXm3HugmAdf-G3fNF2urZYmdM0uSjURGldGvzkjOq95c1HOinvCMWH9tkQXoRdK/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZ9KI1d5ycXn5cSxrlxy8LFTnIQvSnirzao7XHl2xLhsNqslGKFMcCvNxQ4N08VuVUBJR3KyOPtsUhQXm3HugmAdf-G3fNF2urZYmdM0uSjURGldGvzkjOq95c1HOinvCMWH9tkQXoRdK/s400/007.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Entering this into the Thanksgiving challenge at <a href="http://sweetnsassydigis.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sweet 'n Sassy</a></div>
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Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-47047553491561415822012-11-11T02:13:00.000-08:002012-11-11T03:33:55.583-08:00Warning...Ultimate Christmas Ornament Below...Earlier this week, I met up with a wonderful friend for a breakfast date, full of milky coffee, bacon and egg butties and a good old gossip. And she bought me an early Christmas present. I feel I need to give a little history to our gift giving before proceeding, just to set the tone...<br />
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For my birthday this year, she got me a resin life size guinea pig for my garden. It's very realistic and I lovingly refer to it as the dead guinea pig - it freaked me out when I opened it (much to her delight) and it still freaks me out when I catch sight of it outside (much to her continued delight). For her birthday, and following a conversation where she declared that the best job in the world had to be a Penguin Feeder, I made her this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8u-HPHxmZFzWr_XG8VnlEwjPJUqiL7rBSELwWN5KoJjVdT6YE9MbjiINSIsvwL1YJZe2wTDIzNprpUORsFWnyxNOltU5btz15VEfaOYc4hzHYiv3IfwZwNErKUfvISZCxUfQeqZVxJCj/s1600/PenguinFeeder1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8u-HPHxmZFzWr_XG8VnlEwjPJUqiL7rBSELwWN5KoJjVdT6YE9MbjiINSIsvwL1YJZe2wTDIzNprpUORsFWnyxNOltU5btz15VEfaOYc4hzHYiv3IfwZwNErKUfvISZCxUfQeqZVxJCj/s400/PenguinFeeder1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And when I borrowed her spade to bury my beloved Catalpa earlier this year and plant a tree over him, I made this for the spade to say "thank you".</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZUUH_VgBNz4Y464emp5TUd5Tit_aqgqmE8cnwB_IDrvwY8YI-yfy67gIiDd_FcOTtCjGPj1V-bzqFFfIU-KKl1TJ98qWc5FKYhICqbyx5FMQr45xH7J-8q_YZuvPvXaEAKoGpwSooGJ_/s1600/spade.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZUUH_VgBNz4Y464emp5TUd5Tit_aqgqmE8cnwB_IDrvwY8YI-yfy67gIiDd_FcOTtCjGPj1V-bzqFFfIU-KKl1TJ98qWc5FKYhICqbyx5FMQr45xH7J-8q_YZuvPvXaEAKoGpwSooGJ_/s640/spade.JPG" width="328" /></a></div>
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Then there was the eye-wateringly coloured tourist dish she bought me back from holiday and the torn off cardboard box end and biro Christmas card she made me...</div>
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So back to breakfast, and she is suspiciously gleeful at announcing she's got me a present, and hands over a gift bag, declaring that I will love it. I nervously ask if it's another dead animal and she looks a bit shifty. She tells me that it's the ultimate Christmas decoration; that it is everything associated with Christmas all in one marvellous little package.</div>
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I'm thinking holly...santa...presents...a tree...baubles...Christmas Pud...oh God, a Turkey...</div>
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I. was. wrong.</div>
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Ready? You might want to sit down...</div>
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Behold!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugRRCOBG11qcnCOzHxxUyRH1jEFwXlsp1aVLGG00byHsdoylzkDELjtALQny6S66Ll5NqCQlDh6h0JmTgl8EAZdRhstTUHon44jo85WHZZfCeU26VtctEoHkzyHQc9Byek-VG-enAHOxG/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugRRCOBG11qcnCOzHxxUyRH1jEFwXlsp1aVLGG00byHsdoylzkDELjtALQny6S66Ll5NqCQlDh6h0JmTgl8EAZdRhstTUHon44jo85WHZZfCeU26VtctEoHkzyHQc9Byek-VG-enAHOxG/s400/003.JPG" width="323" /></a></div>
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Yes! Yes, this is a Giraffe! With pink fluff! And pearls! And a glittered bow! And a beaded tutu! And ballet shoes..en pointe! And....white ankle socks!</div>
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It's hideous and gorgeous at the same time. I hate it and love it with equal measure. Most of all, it makes me grin like a loon.</div>
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It has, of course, been inspiration, for my Christmas card for Kay this year. But in blue, because I've faced <a href="http://coffeeandcream2010.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/in-pink.html" target="_blank">pink</a> enough in the last week!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_R5g4HV3B3eV0MDwOTtJddBcPsM4E0ypbDpiidEOpo7wS-ItGgJct7rBDT5HbhTbg0vYYxfRUTo8qOd4MdEZ4iQbmCT-x9K3Qwdn_obDkuD3ZhMzMk4h5owJyQvJfahS7m2ACJB3mzSU/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_R5g4HV3B3eV0MDwOTtJddBcPsM4E0ypbDpiidEOpo7wS-ItGgJct7rBDT5HbhTbg0vYYxfRUTo8qOd4MdEZ4iQbmCT-x9K3Qwdn_obDkuD3ZhMzMk4h5owJyQvJfahS7m2ACJB3mzSU/s400/017.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And yes, this is a deliberately over the top card - it had to be. The digi stamp is a freebie from <a href="http://starrynightsstudio.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/new-freebie-cuddly-giraffe.html" target="_blank">Starry Nights Studio</a>, printed onto Centura Pearl card stock (Yes! I've found a way to make the Epsom take it!), coloured with Promarkers and backing card from Kanban. It took far too long to hand stitch beads and tiny buttons onto a ribbon tutu, but I love the effect. Then there is lace, more hand stitching, glitter, feathers, more buttons, felt snowflakes, gems, pearls, glossy accents, distress inks and a sparkly pom pom tail. She'll love it.</div>
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Entering it into the Pastel Christmas challenge at <a href="http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Totally Gorjuss</a>, the Lets Get Cute challenge at <a href="http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Divas By Design</a>, the Anything Goes challenge at <a href="http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafty Catz</a>, Add Sparkle challenge at <a href="http://www.ribbongirls.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Ribbon Girls</a> and the Christmas Anything Goes at <a href="http://www.craftybloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafty Bloggers Network</a> :)</div>
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I have a couple more cards on the craft table that I need to finish off, then I really need to make a start on presents. If you have any great projects for handmade gift giving, please shout out - any craft...if I don't dabble in it already, it might inspire me to give it a go!</div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-53775639206930028222012-11-10T01:29:00.000-08:002012-11-10T01:30:03.758-08:00In the PinkAs I mentioned last time, pink is not a colour I am drawn towards. My Promarker collection reflects this - I have a grand total of four pinks - pastel pink, magenta, pink mittens and wild cranberry. Blending is a challenge - the tones aren't that close to each other! I've used a digi stamp from <a href="http://deariedollsdigis.blog.com/" target="_blank">Dearie Dolls</a> printed onto Centura Pearl card stock (and the only time I've successfully got my Epsom to accept it!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTwKj3Cjo56Av36WLKMgWQthfrPLfw4uRQpnYswho-MJtjkNl8gPWAFxkSLOnOQ9zrMoP4MTwAuke7EnGCcA8J8yWAQvzhTFG9exBbcAlM3PmEmdBYAnMQTp_TG1ZNS-UiFjCUw0KKa08/s1600/bb+card4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTwKj3Cjo56Av36WLKMgWQthfrPLfw4uRQpnYswho-MJtjkNl8gPWAFxkSLOnOQ9zrMoP4MTwAuke7EnGCcA8J8yWAQvzhTFG9exBbcAlM3PmEmdBYAnMQTp_TG1ZNS-UiFjCUw0KKa08/s400/bb+card4.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I used winter berry and a couple of greys to overlay to give me a broader range, but she's still ended up looking a little like she got dressed in the dark (my son's reaction was "Argh! Why has she ripped the snowman's head off?!", so perhaps she deserves a wardrobe malfunction...!)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGnuyAYvzDTKDTfA2HJrjn3Zp-2rm8qcmPR3gy0x9hw-V5aSpKGdML0vNxxXiHmUI7my1dGmcwcGcMtnT7IBKqxjncIEkhISwKehOPb9bi85gFBojFQ021gEE9U90Go1IdYTYVh1Y3vwGN/s1600/bb+card3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGnuyAYvzDTKDTfA2HJrjn3Zp-2rm8qcmPR3gy0x9hw-V5aSpKGdML0vNxxXiHmUI7my1dGmcwcGcMtnT7IBKqxjncIEkhISwKehOPb9bi85gFBojFQ021gEE9U90Go1IdYTYVh1Y3vwGN/s400/bb+card3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've added glaze to the snowflakes, the carrot, their eyes and her shoes. The backing papers are all from Nitwits and came free with a magazine. I've cut into the argyle-y one to frame the bottom of the digistamp. The pink crystals come from a candle making set from the early 90s - I can't bear to throw anything out, even if I can't see how I'll ever use it! The snowflake is a wooden lazercut, painted with white acrylic and decorated with glitter and a little button. And there you have it - one, out of character, pink card!</div>
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Entering into the following challenges: Paper Cupcake <a href="http://theresmagicintheair.blogspot.nl/2012/10/magical-monday-pretty-in-pink.html" target="_blank">Pretty In Pink</a> and I Love Promarkers <a href="http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/challenge-142-pretty-in-pink.html" target="_blank">Pretty In Pink</a>.</div>
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Despite my protests, this was an enjoyable card to make and it's good to do something a little different to the norm.</div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-19854096188560587132012-11-08T11:45:00.001-08:002012-11-08T14:10:56.818-08:00More Birdie Brown!I am totally in love with the digi stamps designed by Torico of <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Birdie Brown </a>- they're easy for a beginner like me to colour and are charming without being overly cutesy. There's a good selection of free stamps available and more to buy from her <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/BirdieBrown?utm_source=CraftCult&utm_medium=api&utm_campaign=api" target="_blank">etsy shop</a> (the robots!).<br />
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First up is another of November's digistamps Just For You, made into a small hendacagon<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span>box (11 sides). I made the box template in Serif by butting up a small rectangle to a hendacagon shape made using the Shapes feature. By copying, pasting and shrinking it slightly, it's given me a perfect fit between the lid and the base. <br />
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I used Promarkers to colour the image and I *will* master a blended black hat eventually! But not today... To mask the overblended area that refused to be fixed, I've added glazed holly leaf punch outs and clear crystals coloured red with a promarker. There's also clear glaze and glitter accents. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibj_OhZuPlojiEaszl6Zf0le4eorHKcBL4g3cRgHueAc1L5w4gIj_c-u3bTntEM2vfWUzu6xMrdlTKMpbOVWMyGaXGALCn7bHPlf2RAbOgwdZf_mkES9lUqM3ywnjOJoIHmnmidWMEWNlT/s1600/Birdie+Brown+Box1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibj_OhZuPlojiEaszl6Zf0le4eorHKcBL4g3cRgHueAc1L5w4gIj_c-u3bTntEM2vfWUzu6xMrdlTKMpbOVWMyGaXGALCn7bHPlf2RAbOgwdZf_mkES9lUqM3ywnjOJoIHmnmidWMEWNlT/s400/Birdie+Brown+Box1.png" width="380" /></a></div>
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The sides of the box are decorated with ribbons and ric rac with a snowflake glued to the bow. I plan on filling the box with handmade chocolate rum truffles for Christmas. I'm entering the box into the Anything but a Card challenge over at <a href="http://sweetnsassydigis.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sweet 'n Sassy</a> and the Anything Goes challenge at the <a href="http://anythingchallenge.blogspot.no/" target="_blank">Anything Challenges</a> blog, plus, of course, the November Challenge at <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Birdie Brown</a>. </div>
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To add some variety into my Christmas crafting, the next image I played with the <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.jp/2012/02/dreaming-birds-freebie.html" target="_blank">Dreaming Birds</a> images and made two cards.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpZ2lY1yLbiMGIWM2jhw6ml7AKqxCKspjAbyMJaeUs7SRZa7mrKJhib5prxl2wCPgcjnPaGi8AhHoJyEZPoR9PekwGre4wg-K8EoNWN9g2wP_iBo69BR36voVnFeyaoDCf4K1xMgilPx6/s1600/bb+card.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpZ2lY1yLbiMGIWM2jhw6ml7AKqxCKspjAbyMJaeUs7SRZa7mrKJhib5prxl2wCPgcjnPaGi8AhHoJyEZPoR9PekwGre4wg-K8EoNWN9g2wP_iBo69BR36voVnFeyaoDCf4K1xMgilPx6/s400/bb+card.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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This card has soft pastel colours, a delicate paper doily, a little flower and pearl heart embellishment...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGFwl-vE6VD_UXoBEWl4V6HFBMNKCcrVgszRS16YLAZMBZ1BnZNeahH0arKEFlI4MJbZ0q645iYMh8EWFVYEI1U6RpWYgqmguuj9QsI4K9WgPkY8jNyTf2QkoaCnHcTecXKFGKHcl39oZ/s1600/bb+card1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGFwl-vE6VD_UXoBEWl4V6HFBMNKCcrVgszRS16YLAZMBZ1BnZNeahH0arKEFlI4MJbZ0q645iYMh8EWFVYEI1U6RpWYgqmguuj9QsI4K9WgPkY8jNyTf2QkoaCnHcTecXKFGKHcl39oZ/s400/bb+card1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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And buttons!<br />
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For the second card, I used promarkers to give the larger bird a rainbow wing, and then teamed it with lots of rainbow ribbon. The floral border stopper I made in serif - the flowers are just circles and hearts. By copying and pasting them in different sizes, it was easy to make a little floral strip. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdSuIq29Q9bZyt72EqU_Fih7DjpGgD1Ct9qaKf4QunefkG6T70OZ-s8725ptz7Ez_BdIucqf6Ouu4_cM9sBi7dyiV-Z7grsIv74GhWX0f9tlogCq8u32klcIgejyAruJkzIwa-cSc9p198/s1600/bb+card2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdSuIq29Q9bZyt72EqU_Fih7DjpGgD1Ct9qaKf4QunefkG6T70OZ-s8725ptz7Ez_BdIucqf6Ouu4_cM9sBi7dyiV-Z7grsIv74GhWX0f9tlogCq8u32klcIgejyAruJkzIwa-cSc9p198/s400/bb+card2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I'm entering the rainbow card into the In the Garden challenge over at the <a href="http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Passion for Promarker</a> blog.</div>
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Next up will be something pink for a couple of pink challenges - this will be interesting as it's not a colour I'm particularly fond of and certainly not one that I'd gravitate towards if left to my own devices! Plus, it'll keep me occupied whilst I'm waiting for <a href="http://www.letraset.com/products/2140-ProMarker-Ultra-Fine-Nibs/" target="_blank">these</a> to arrive....</div>
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P.S Go visit <a href="http://going-buggy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/win-complete-set-of-promarkers.html" target="_blank">Going Buggy: WIN a complete set of PROMARKERS</a>!</div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-86217895861325574722012-11-08T08:56:00.000-08:002012-11-08T09:04:19.263-08:00Put a button on it!Christmas card inspired by the <a href="http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Totally Gorjuss</a> Anything Goes...with a Button challenge and the Texture challenge over at <a href="http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/challenge-157-add-texture.html" target="_blank">CraftyCatz</a>.<br />
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The Gingerbread couple are from the Nitwit stamp collection, and I've used coordinating papers from the same range. There's also ricrac, lace, string, ribbons and of course...buttons! The stamped images are coloured with <a href="http://www.letraset.com/products/8-ProMarkers/" target="_blank">Promarkers</a> - I think I'm improving! </div>
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I recently bought some Bookbinding Glue from <a href="http://pinflair.co.uk/item.php?item_id=880&category_id=164" target="_blank">Pinflair</a>. This stuff is brilliant! The string on the card is attached to the edge of a card oval using the glue. It dried first, and that string is going nowhere - no more will embellishments like this be falling off! I tried some on string and scrap card, let it dry and then tried pulling the string off - the card tore, but the string remained attached to its card base. It has multiple uses and I'm looking forward to experimenting more with it. </div>
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Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-80467614718938088622012-11-04T08:23:00.000-08:002012-11-04T08:24:42.165-08:00Birdie Brown Free DigistampsThere's new free digistamps available from <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.jp/2012/11/november-freebies-challenge.html" target="_blank">Birdie Brown</a> :) I'm really enjoying seeing her blog and I like the monthly challenges - seeing what other people do with the same thing is inspiring and fascinating in much the same way as the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/" target="_blank">Ravelry</a> project pages for the same knitting pattern. It underlines just how unique each creation that leaves a crafter's hands really is.<br />
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This month there are two snowmen images to play with. I instantly fell in love with the Just for You stamp, whilst Snowy Day didn't really grab my attention. Having played with both, however, the former remains a favourite but the latter has grown on me considerably.<br />
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I made a card with the first digistamp, and while the characters are hand coloured, I created the snowy background to them in Serif.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzdYN8VDxttmbXQx6bgTRFisdRKlnWim-tB_4_jjoHyJmNmsWrCCsyjL4CJUZZqiImvHxiUrrxv4OGNGwZbFaR8jng79gGMljFzRu0Oc1whplWHj49ItuQMvmRCsy_CJgEU8sWtwDMShU/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzdYN8VDxttmbXQx6bgTRFisdRKlnWim-tB_4_jjoHyJmNmsWrCCsyjL4CJUZZqiImvHxiUrrxv4OGNGwZbFaR8jng79gGMljFzRu0Oc1whplWHj49ItuQMvmRCsy_CJgEU8sWtwDMShU/s400/008.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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See the little star buttons and ribbons on the bag? I confess they're covering up a bit of bleed through from the promarkers! His glasses and coat buttons have a little clear glaze over them, and I've added tiny seed beads to each dot on the doily. </div>
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Snowy Day has been turned into a small hanging gift box for the Christmas Tree. He's decoupaged onto the front, complete with a rainbow scarf and shiny nose! As this background was so much smaller, I coloured it by hand. </div>
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Both have glittery accents, and to give a sense of scale for the box, here it is with the card:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcJmD5xUuSN12e6eLmhkAJUD9q8TgPBzO0C2Pivb57lUGxWsRKrRLBYpFnvqgpQlZ6o0BGC78Ls3zHvBdeVO-w42G5nK1G2HaJmMCGWcMwTIH2zPpUs3wRwbAAbchJ9Lo8KFGP-nshDCC/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcJmD5xUuSN12e6eLmhkAJUD9q8TgPBzO0C2Pivb57lUGxWsRKrRLBYpFnvqgpQlZ6o0BGC78Ls3zHvBdeVO-w42G5nK1G2HaJmMCGWcMwTIH2zPpUs3wRwbAAbchJ9Lo8KFGP-nshDCC/s400/013.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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There's enough room in it for four of the little Christmas chocolates from M&S (the ones that come in the nets - yum!)</div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-58761612473119735892012-11-04T06:39:00.000-08:002012-11-04T06:39:24.550-08:00Silicone Disaster!A weekend of card making here, and thanks to a recent reorganisation of my craft cupboard, old treasures have found new light. Including silicone gel.<br />
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I wanted to create a card using just brown tones and the Gorjuss On Top of the World stamp. All went well until I decoupaged the layers and this happened...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDmYc2dkFhq0iGjJIGWslTYDGZS8mV-7loy4189Q5a5YleXeS8-JEsZQTXBf4zfRud6p7AOEpQVdD7jwPIjBMI4-PYNN63vrOWPC75sVTfiKLu_EC-XuzUGloRGh94yXb0-r54ZBPqsqB/s1600/Gorjuss+Fail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDmYc2dkFhq0iGjJIGWslTYDGZS8mV-7loy4189Q5a5YleXeS8-JEsZQTXBf4zfRud6p7AOEpQVdD7jwPIjBMI4-PYNN63vrOWPC75sVTfiKLu_EC-XuzUGloRGh94yXb0-r54ZBPqsqB/s400/Gorjuss+Fail.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Look at the way the silicone has bled through to the front - the blotchiness on her face and pinafore! Argh!!</div>
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Luckily, I'd also coloured and cut out another image, which didn't have a home, so I layered it over the top. It's no longer just brown tones, but I'm pleased with the results. Vintage buttons added the perfect finishing touch:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQ1rku4IEwgnILrKLxljj1g7h80z0HORvl4v9LGgwyvEioXjRIgEBYX21yoFq2_CmRgNTNh9WUIanFQ3Xg7n1Z00C8tMHDlLFT-EFEbgeM53J9E-omfOvTZqTOxwwaaw-eUBI1LVf8UFH/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQ1rku4IEwgnILrKLxljj1g7h80z0HORvl4v9LGgwyvEioXjRIgEBYX21yoFq2_CmRgNTNh9WUIanFQ3Xg7n1Z00C8tMHDlLFT-EFEbgeM53J9E-omfOvTZqTOxwwaaw-eUBI1LVf8UFH/s400/007.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Much better :)</div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-38152885864923608982012-11-01T02:37:00.000-07:002012-11-02T14:45:42.289-07:00HalloweenIt's the morning after Halloween - such good fun last night! In England, Halloween is slowly catching on, and I love the growing community spirit surrounding the night. I love the effort the parents and children put in to their costumes and their eager faces when you open the door. We're very lucky here that the children dress like devils but behave like angels for the night - they only go to houses with signs of Halloween decorations and are enthusiastically polite over treats given out. <br />
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Last year, the treats were bookworms:<br />
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Book page pouches, with printed labels stapled on and filled with jelly worms. I can't remember how many of these I made, and it was my very first halloween living within reach of neighbours who might trick or treat. We ran out :/ Those last few children were given Christmas candy canes out of desperation!<br />
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This year, I started off by making broomsticks. I found sweets packaged to look like pencils for the base, printed out sheets of "wood" to wrap around them and finished with twigs and twine to complete the broomstick. The sweets were 20 for £1 - it's a great way to make cheap sweeties look special. You could probably use pixie sticks instead.<br />
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Here they are ready to give out:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJO3V3VkOPvhgHs5HVxH0kDzkItJUSqVuXUuu_BieTmCgq16wgFufsfzSjVkNbDfTjp3hPT5StY3AdUfpdSFnSPYtg9D6-L-TzJzlwZ3nIN7ZttIhSZqHAAKPFxm5_LznO6gaeyFskK-pt/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJO3V3VkOPvhgHs5HVxH0kDzkItJUSqVuXUuu_BieTmCgq16wgFufsfzSjVkNbDfTjp3hPT5StY3AdUfpdSFnSPYtg9D6-L-TzJzlwZ3nIN7ZttIhSZqHAAKPFxm5_LznO6gaeyFskK-pt/s320/013.JPG" width="311" /></a></div>
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See the cute Death figure? He's a free printable from <a href="http://www.urbanthreads.com/blog/?p=6882" target="_blank">Stitch Punk</a> :)</div>
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I also made little pouches out of fabric with printed card labels (if anyone's interested in the labels, I can publish them as a pdf). Jelly snakes for decomposing eels and skidaddles for bat poo! Note to self: these were much faster to craft in bulk than the labour intensive broomsticks...and you need to do at least 60 of them next year...'k?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkdcyzCpazzCT4Jf84kUCNPmR-895bLaeeLHr5zA9JauuKIiGdhYbqliq4olJwBArte3f9vE9w-FpB-7D-aS6DNZVOnokIWKu48cDEWl8fgVUS9VPh2wNJlkgzjp1QK8hY3XaFw0QwODN/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkdcyzCpazzCT4Jf84kUCNPmR-895bLaeeLHr5zA9JauuKIiGdhYbqliq4olJwBArte3f9vE9w-FpB-7D-aS6DNZVOnokIWKu48cDEWl8fgVUS9VPh2wNJlkgzjp1QK8hY3XaFw0QwODN/s320/018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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And using the same fabric, a little bag stuffed with Halloween treats for a friend's daughter </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0YIHIJmtm-FEQyioMjdoO_NOQpdLpjZXnEJhA9g6JF6KDN2lFO28wkyiO4vElZWL_KYvKpIiRqem02Dxss5GmyMONyV6SJEB-MPKLlxLCT7syErN8ZOnNDd1N24tuMg77nfdPqQ-lL1D/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0YIHIJmtm-FEQyioMjdoO_NOQpdLpjZXnEJhA9g6JF6KDN2lFO28wkyiO4vElZWL_KYvKpIiRqem02Dxss5GmyMONyV6SJEB-MPKLlxLCT7syErN8ZOnNDd1N24tuMg77nfdPqQ-lL1D/s400/025.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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The skulls are hair clips made out of printable shrink plastic (skulls taken from a free digikit - Spooktakular available from <a href="http://www.daisytrail.com/free_stuff.html" target="_blank">Daisytrail</a>) and hot glued onto clips. I also played some more with my alcohol markers and a <a href="http://www.santoro-london.com/shop/gorjuss-clear-stamps-on-top-of-the-world.html" target="_blank">Gorjuss On Top of the World</a> stamp. (Edited to add I've entered this in the weekly challenge over on <a href="http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk/">http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk</a>)</div>
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I also made a card for my son, again taken from the same free digikit. He had posh Halloween chocolates from <a href="http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/cid/YON7ITSFRUX2D71R3INB400BHOHC1U8N/halloween-chocolate-gifts-CHChalloween/" target="_blank">Hotel Chocolat</a> (honestly, I didn't choose them because I knew he'd share....ahem)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ca5XER0fT38IzgE9ay8r1XzeTS_KD4IGlY-jZjGtUd23XndIH6A1AwF8zXijYYD3F3bzKlsbo7htgCdDIRM5IgAG7PlvafkEjVVhQ6n7IefMtvQ0D8EEuXpFfSgN3SMdMFI3JSgKyUfe/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ca5XER0fT38IzgE9ay8r1XzeTS_KD4IGlY-jZjGtUd23XndIH6A1AwF8zXijYYD3F3bzKlsbo7htgCdDIRM5IgAG7PlvafkEjVVhQ6n7IefMtvQ0D8EEuXpFfSgN3SMdMFI3JSgKyUfe/s320/008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Even the knife block got mummified! Free printable from <a href="http://www.whatimade.com/index.php/slightly-scary-kitchen-decals/" target="_blank">What I Made</a> - check out the rest of the site, it's visually stunning and there's some great projects on there.</div>
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Finally, we made two pumpkins - one real for outside, and other out of papier mache for indoors. The papier mache one was a pain to be honest - I'd forgotten just how time consuming it is to build up the layers with the drying time in between. I used a punch ball balloon which happily started to deflate after the first layer was put on. I cursed it at the time, but it's actually made a more realistic mishapen pumpkin that Mother Nature might have come up with. It blocked up my crafting table for over a week. I used orange, brown and yellow acrylic paints to colour it and then drilled holes in a swirl design with an electric drill (tip - use a face mask next time...orange gunk when you blow your nose...not attractive!) It's a little lame in the daylight, but looks really pretty when its lit at night, honest.</div>
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The real pumpkin got drilled too - this was so much fun to do apparently (my son insisted on doing the grrrr...manly thing with a power tool) We punched out one larger hole to <strike>shove</strike> artistically arrange a plastic rat in, hot glued smaller mice to the outside and used a battery operated 20 green led light set in the smaller holes, while the rest had white light shining out from a powerful led push light. I pinned a triple bow to the top. This was easily the fastest and simplest pumpkin we've ever done, but it looked really effective. </div>
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I stood it on an upturned waste paper bin which is an opaque plastic and hot glued glow sticks inside it. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqV-hjIOiyNqx5GCzt3MhTrGxcmFeQRKr-cRkPuEC0pXK8rTC7VUnPhfnQOAKzBTmQdWGKUdDizfbBi3SfV0CQN5GcZo3eu4Tf_2iQ4WZkrsgYIZ4-8tTG2JXqqGrCG6e0MQJeEyNjj1g6/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqV-hjIOiyNqx5GCzt3MhTrGxcmFeQRKr-cRkPuEC0pXK8rTC7VUnPhfnQOAKzBTmQdWGKUdDizfbBi3SfV0CQN5GcZo3eu4Tf_2iQ4WZkrsgYIZ4-8tTG2JXqqGrCG6e0MQJeEyNjj1g6/s320/001.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Very blurry picture without the flash....</div>
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As it's blustery, but gloriously sunny this morning, I'm off to wrap up and sit in the garden with a cosy mug of hot chocolate - Autumn is my favourite season, and I want to make the most of it while it lasts!</div>
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<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-27543008344762229422012-10-31T07:45:00.000-07:002012-10-31T07:45:34.189-07:00Discovering....digistamps!I've always been a secret fan of colouring in throughout my adulthood. When I was a young girl, I spent hours drawing and colouring in pictures of my own devise or printed. Including the illustrations in books: especially Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree series, much to my sister's disgust as the ink would bleed through the page and obscure the text on the reverse (pah! - like we didn't know them off by heart, anyway!)<br />
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I've recently discovered a whole world of people who also like colouring, disguised with grown-up sounding tools - alcohol markers, blending tools...digistamps. I had replacement felt tip pens twice a year growing up - one treasured set each Christmas, and another of my own choosing during the Summer holidays bought from Woolworth's with carefully counted out pocket money. Each set never lasted through the time from one set to another, and I'd spend many hours soaking the inners in vinegar, or sucking the tip to try to breathe just a little more life into them. How much more fun would that have been with alcohol markers?!<br />
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Armed with newly acquired Promarkers from Letraset, and my good friend Google, I found <a href="http://birdiebrown.blogspot.jp/">this</a> wonderful site - Birdie Brown, a digistamp designer who has really cute images to buy. She also has a few free digistamps which are perfect for novices like me, venturing into this new craft. <br />
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I picked her Gnome Boy in a Wood to start out with. Here are the results:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBPnzQP0WE1_Tben13aY6VCOBjTkcOUjy65_YtqSgBG61cD5b31gavQM5TBxBBMTPg2EsFnl6dgQeQpOUO92PQOz4APKc_c2i5GyJYuE4brDNcmses3XKZU4LjvgVYhWVVZby0RHzs5cv/s1600/Autumn+Gnome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBPnzQP0WE1_Tben13aY6VCOBjTkcOUjy65_YtqSgBG61cD5b31gavQM5TBxBBMTPg2EsFnl6dgQeQpOUO92PQOz4APKc_c2i5GyJYuE4brDNcmses3XKZU4LjvgVYhWVVZby0RHzs5cv/s400/Autumn+Gnome.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Apologies for the rather blurry picture - the weather is really miserable today, and my little point and squirt doesn't like it!</div>
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I had so much fun making this little card - I can see this is going to be another craft that I really love...if you're into this kind of colouring, and have any tips or sites to share, please shout out :)</div>
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I've also been busy crafting for Halloween and can't wait for it to get dark and for the doorbell to ring - will share what I've been making next time.</div>
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Happy Halloween!!</div>
<br />Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-67661864178865813862012-07-12T12:28:00.000-07:002012-07-12T12:28:17.030-07:00Time Again<div style="text-align: center;">It's been over a year since my last blog post - it's easy to fall out of the habit of updating, and the more time that passes, the harder it is to pick it up again. I hope this is a fresh start to blogging again, because it's nice to be able to look back and see what I got up to!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">It's also been just over a year since I knitted this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrPXb9RVy-SYg9S-IBsm1bZzZzBxJXrra4btK3vNc_0yonyIgGGl_AeTJlW16pw4hrmu2k-oK_z16wnDQKUNJfIumnWnYzD8QdO7VKaJFtyVzfT_GGX7bw9YCuEAPfO1P3MktcXRjqc6i/s1600/Strawberry+Clock.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrPXb9RVy-SYg9S-IBsm1bZzZzBxJXrra4btK3vNc_0yonyIgGGl_AeTJlW16pw4hrmu2k-oK_z16wnDQKUNJfIumnWnYzD8QdO7VKaJFtyVzfT_GGX7bw9YCuEAPfO1P3MktcXRjqc6i/s320/Strawberry+Clock.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My first knitted clock! It was a huge amount of fun to make, and it hangs in my living room and continues to make me smile every time I glance at the time. I've wanted to knit another one for a while, although with other projects vying for my attention, I just haven't got around to it until now. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But with a commission request for a housewarming Strawberry Clock, I could ignore the urge no longer! I present clock the second:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Again, it's a knitted cover for a vintage style clock. I'm not quite so keen on the deco-style numbers on the face, but this was the only clock I was able to find in this style and it's growing on me. This time, I've used a grey woollen moss stitch base, double knitting weight, with eyelets again for ribbon. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFf18CQk3HbzucTjhtUUUyr4thCurmhtYz9jY0LtJLXb8kJNJwj2S_9xHbPS979yTNmydTyIKVWfF3k9qnk9aZYhOgCFA6eWKpStAFW9en4G5E7HxC3FKHUw3od1w0UZ8fT6YELrI8x7tH/s1600/Strawberry+Clock+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFf18CQk3HbzucTjhtUUUyr4thCurmhtYz9jY0LtJLXb8kJNJwj2S_9xHbPS979yTNmydTyIKVWfF3k9qnk9aZYhOgCFA6eWKpStAFW9en4G5E7HxC3FKHUw3od1w0UZ8fT6YELrI8x7tH/s320/Strawberry+Clock+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The flowers and leaves are slightly different on this one. The leaves are cotton 4ply, knitted rather than crocheted and double thickness. They have more structure, and I love their petite neatness. The flowers are also in cotton 4 ply, and are the same pattern as the original, but these have little knitted button middles and I've added some pale green embroidery threads to the petals.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipXUfPkLaPyUF8V0u500haAnbfJZj5mr2T4Ionc8iMVW6_6oq09JEgzoW7yyU73q5jikFkwUdahAfzoDOIQDnicm0A-B1_avB3F71oupqL4yMSg0-Qzu5z_s_naSs3V6PQOKrqobE5kcBd/s1600/Strawberry+Clock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipXUfPkLaPyUF8V0u500haAnbfJZj5mr2T4Ionc8iMVW6_6oq09JEgzoW7yyU73q5jikFkwUdahAfzoDOIQDnicm0A-B1_avB3F71oupqL4yMSg0-Qzu5z_s_naSs3V6PQOKrqobE5kcBd/s320/Strawberry+Clock.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There are 7 strawberries dangling from one side. As these are knitted in 4ply rather than DK, they're more compact than my original. Plus I actually thought about where to put the french knot seeds on them so they're less haphazard than the first! It feels as though it's evolved - a little more conservative than its big sister, but still a lot of fun. I hope the recipient loves it too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The other recently finished commission is a bunny. A lucky chimney sweep bunny! A colleague had a knitted chimney sweep given to her when she got married, and wants to gift her daughter with one for her wedding day this August. Patterns for knitted chimney sweeps are a little thin on the ground, but I really fell in love with this Alan Dart pattern, despite having a few gripes with it!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVw-X7g6wNKs9Oeqkx6f91J3iQJSaYkGxRCMIwMyc0h2bf2hFhrXRoFd6MQgX0FoDuFOlIQ57WcHKRmcfykwRPFVvDrMMcOguIwVrUMkl5KQ3nQGWH67UjUlgBLRwae123rdKuMsUF1R4/s1600/Chimney+Sweep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVw-X7g6wNKs9Oeqkx6f91J3iQJSaYkGxRCMIwMyc0h2bf2hFhrXRoFd6MQgX0FoDuFOlIQ57WcHKRmcfykwRPFVvDrMMcOguIwVrUMkl5KQ3nQGWH67UjUlgBLRwae123rdKuMsUF1R4/s320/Chimney+Sweep.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Isn't he cute? Her colour theme is purple, hence the waistcoat :) I made a gift box for him to go in, from sheets of posterboard and brown Kraft paper. It's something I enjoy doing, but I need more practise in to iron out some of my own design flaws!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgM4UWe-jHFR8yIvlB9MI5YwMXLOBHpcBDdX-KmOIBP60ixp5zxcq2sB8FuXRzzF2BprB8rtPxnTc8XIYjbDo3QMNlt3VyqtGjreER9CAdoxJ-9g0O0LgJUWCqQYKkn-WXK9NNDW5114Z/s1600/Closed+Box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgM4UWe-jHFR8yIvlB9MI5YwMXLOBHpcBDdX-KmOIBP60ixp5zxcq2sB8FuXRzzF2BprB8rtPxnTc8XIYjbDo3QMNlt3VyqtGjreER9CAdoxJ-9g0O0LgJUWCqQYKkn-WXK9NNDW5114Z/s320/Closed+Box.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have a blissful couple of weeks off work, and plan on catching up with plenty of crafting. Sewing, crochet and knitting awaits - and perhaps a bit of box practise too! And who knows - maybe I'll even blog about it ;)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">P.S. I've bought another clock to knit - should I stick to strawberries or try something different?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-44911118681679873002011-04-20T13:15:00.000-07:002011-04-20T13:15:31.046-07:00Itty Bitty BunniesEaster is just around the corner, and there's not much time left to make crafty things for it. But Anna at Mochimochi Land has generously offered a free pattern for the <a href="http://mochimochiland.com/2011/04/free-pattern-tiny-baby-bunnies/">teeniest knitted bunnies</a>. These take about half an hour from start to finish to whip up. I couldn't resist making a few for myself!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkatNZOv-INv2xdcqryoqULUVeMP0HhQnImRW7OuNLFhyphenhyphenpN3tjFCEKE46vNusDtbdMjQfGD5j5qziNe4wA3XpGugnzKvBGgb_vHD-C06YkpoErElS0mVEAVLwM9tu8FR_RCIqUdXhfsd9/s1600/Itty+Bitty+Bunnies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkatNZOv-INv2xdcqryoqULUVeMP0HhQnImRW7OuNLFhyphenhyphenpN3tjFCEKE46vNusDtbdMjQfGD5j5qziNe4wA3XpGugnzKvBGgb_vHD-C06YkpoErElS0mVEAVLwM9tu8FR_RCIqUdXhfsd9/s320/Itty+Bitty+Bunnies.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The smaller ones I knitted using 4 ply wool and 2.25mm needles as the pattern suggested. Mama Bunny used DK wool and 3mm needles. I did manage to snap one of my beloved Symfonie 2.25mm dpns - I am so grateful that they supply 6 of them for such accidents! You can see the broken dpn in the foreground of this shot (and you probably heard my wail when it snapped!):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrwAAiI4uBmPa7nhGhwWPhkOnMqAaKmnytZy5ad-XJwON1lPFpZQVQYNw7_HLgi2lqmqMeaqR6YaJdnsS2I-cCP4yJ_wywH1WM42HcNLw8eouR3HIDECgQTQ4xIuTj36rBON6ZAox_0Bq/s1600/Itty+Bitty+Bunnies+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrwAAiI4uBmPa7nhGhwWPhkOnMqAaKmnytZy5ad-XJwON1lPFpZQVQYNw7_HLgi2lqmqMeaqR6YaJdnsS2I-cCP4yJ_wywH1WM42HcNLw8eouR3HIDECgQTQ4xIuTj36rBON6ZAox_0Bq/s320/Itty+Bitty+Bunnies+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I also discovered the <a href="http://www.miyacompany.com/static.asp?htmltemplate=1000cranes.html">1000 Cranes Appeal</a> on Miya Company's website. For each picture of an origami crane they receive, they'll donate $5 to Save the Children for Japan's relief and recovery, up to a total of 1000 cranes. If you don't know how to fold the crane, they have a pdf file you can download to help you. My son and I spent a while folding cranes outside today, although typically, a breeze started up when I wanted to photograph them, so they're all a bit less posed than I wanted them to be!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99iEkBRsVY0bDE-xAP1FAXD6CbOG8aaZ5ZnskNkk5IKZi-Nd99snYLX7USzX5oPtuJ0D_sR81ygoQJDAOIYKZCOx9e4g-DgGFS4ozVnuOEvG7-lfCmR-wY6aRIiGTwohCPWKc1lvVHyKJ/s1600/Cranes+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99iEkBRsVY0bDE-xAP1FAXD6CbOG8aaZ5ZnskNkk5IKZi-Nd99snYLX7USzX5oPtuJ0D_sR81ygoQJDAOIYKZCOx9e4g-DgGFS4ozVnuOEvG7-lfCmR-wY6aRIiGTwohCPWKc1lvVHyKJ/s320/Cranes+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And a less pterodactyl-y shot of a couple of them...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl9Pu5ImlnUzmbnp1Ux9XNaztvtG82sRP9yoLCvaxHmQIh8MPQUCjFpGL7_M48JpnX2kjeXW2DVvrjjBGxjX9kGR-pYwOyosK2ugJko52mCGdQbflXZ_TTBdet5xMq5UV9MHJ8fBcrjH4/s1600/Peace+Cranes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl9Pu5ImlnUzmbnp1Ux9XNaztvtG82sRP9yoLCvaxHmQIh8MPQUCjFpGL7_M48JpnX2kjeXW2DVvrjjBGxjX9kGR-pYwOyosK2ugJko52mCGdQbflXZ_TTBdet5xMq5UV9MHJ8fBcrjH4/s320/Peace+Cranes.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If I don't blog again before, have a wonderful Easter everyone :) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-10650737382659038772011-04-15T07:05:00.000-07:002011-04-15T07:05:27.355-07:00Crafting Returns SlowlyI dislike my current lethargy towards crafting. It's unsettling and I'd like to get back to "normal", please!<br />
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I have managed a couple of little projects though.<br />
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The first is a little Easter-y bunny sachet, using <a href="http://www.craftpassion.com/2011/02/sewing-bunny-sachet-pattern-tutorial.html">this</a> great free pattern.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCB3QG_uU7gulRbc_0eBZGqKk5ifENpQ4ejDY-39mvz8NqSveioZMvZy2EodX2j8upx3sfsxb2h-8pG7Zk1QmkOv4zm3LWiPRA-BkXrsc7r2ESiycJ2SEg7RLvGq8KyKggTIV9H10fpXOo/s1600/Bunny+Sachet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCB3QG_uU7gulRbc_0eBZGqKk5ifENpQ4ejDY-39mvz8NqSveioZMvZy2EodX2j8upx3sfsxb2h-8pG7Zk1QmkOv4zm3LWiPRA-BkXrsc7r2ESiycJ2SEg7RLvGq8KyKggTIV9H10fpXOo/s320/Bunny+Sachet.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And secondly, some little handmade seed packets. With only a tiny garden, there simply isn't room to grow whole packets of seeds, and I end up with loads left over. Normally I keep these for the following season, but this year I've had disappointing germination results from my older seeds and it seems far more sensible to give away the excess and start each season with fresh seeds to put my energy and love into. The packets are just little rectangles of handmade paper and vellums machine sowed around three sides before the seeds are popped in and the fourth side sown. They all have little tags with the seed variety and basic sowing instructions on them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5mku7tIGxe5Mu9oHii0xRIB20VNKapGcEfekGvE2KBOUzM9jhLANJyemzfF16ivnzWOC_6MLJAkUEdpwJzOig5oC1QQs44BOuqrK3_E-vUVA5HNFcteenaxG7XUVTxE1VK77lkw4H4-z/s1600/Homemade+Seed+Packets.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5mku7tIGxe5Mu9oHii0xRIB20VNKapGcEfekGvE2KBOUzM9jhLANJyemzfF16ivnzWOC_6MLJAkUEdpwJzOig5oC1QQs44BOuqrK3_E-vUVA5HNFcteenaxG7XUVTxE1VK77lkw4H4-z/s320/Homemade+Seed+Packets.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love the Flower Fairy vellum - how wonderful would it be to make up a little set of these and have one just purely filled with glitter as fairy dust to make the seeds grow? They'd make adorable party favours or combined with a little tin watering can and some colourful pots, a great Easter egg alternative (or in addition to an Easter egg - I do like chocolate a lot!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Please tell me what you're working on at the moment - it'll inspire me back to my creative self again!</div>Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-36075185947506615662011-04-12T11:15:00.000-07:002011-04-12T11:15:24.231-07:00GardeningMy desire to craft has been temporarily usurped by my desire to garden. I know that it's temporary and things will regain balance soon - or at least, I hope so because I'm missing the urge to knit, crochet or sew!<br />
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I've made a new blog purely for gardening adventures - it's <a href="http://vegblogs.co.uk/coffeeandcream/">here</a> if anyone fancies a nose :) It'll be a place for me to make more detailed notes that'll help in subsequent years, and will be a good way of keeping check on how things are growing.<br />
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Having spent a few weeks warming up the soil in the raised bed, I removed the cover, dug it over and covered it with netting to stop the neighbourhood cats viewing it as a Wonderful Litter Tray. Catalpa came out and showed me just how kitty proof that netting is...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WM483vPGdMEiPS5IEEkRaOiNDtLB7snykykU9U7SN38M3tC18uilrYfcG0yJjLI4VQcEXRSMVIeD_qVouwuExW5qkg5o463oXebBJa8g3TNoV3SA04aiprbW4jmO2rc9ebXTcDobURpi/s1600/Warmed+up+for+the+Cat%2521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WM483vPGdMEiPS5IEEkRaOiNDtLB7snykykU9U7SN38M3tC18uilrYfcG0yJjLI4VQcEXRSMVIeD_qVouwuExW5qkg5o463oXebBJa8g3TNoV3SA04aiprbW4jmO2rc9ebXTcDobURpi/s320/Warmed+up+for+the+Cat%2521.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
At least he's not able to dig holes in it, but it's not particularly helpful, is it?!Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-46834269176603523092011-04-04T07:48:00.000-07:002011-04-04T08:01:00.717-07:00Rainclouds and Rainbows - Free Pattern<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOf47pgovK-odK3vNboDF_B_kM649x03MaVJjN8QOLTrEb_oEsx-jdiqF__EvMu4CCihGdSsvwc457q6qZ8i0rikA_GPHkhcEmkV23FEMV8_svGUVPYrODZB5jmuFCJcR9xGV6hg_KDRC4/s1600/Rainbows+and+Rainclouds+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOf47pgovK-odK3vNboDF_B_kM649x03MaVJjN8QOLTrEb_oEsx-jdiqF__EvMu4CCihGdSsvwc457q6qZ8i0rikA_GPHkhcEmkV23FEMV8_svGUVPYrODZB5jmuFCJcR9xGV6hg_KDRC4/s320/Rainbows+and+Rainclouds+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I do like Douwe Egberts coffee. I love the taste, and I love the glass jars they come in with their chunky glass stoppers! They're brilliant for holding...stuff. I have them filled with toffees for DS, with ribbons, beads and buttons for me. They're great for holding soup in to gift to friends when they're sick. And obviously, they need cosies - dur. So here is a simple pattern to cosy up a 200g sized coffee jar :) </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiej6ssmZitlvNICdvEJpGIFOyhNzEQIsSJNSNNSEyhbHUxNHmvuKBnd_YeZHKyawSgx8cP2tSrFdAHOHz40iZA_2y2xb-umss6VVxtIO1tKqJdMVnDgCWkaXhMdAJuWVdS_cQpJXItTlDx/s1600/Rainbows+and+Rainclouds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiej6ssmZitlvNICdvEJpGIFOyhNzEQIsSJNSNNSEyhbHUxNHmvuKBnd_YeZHKyawSgx8cP2tSrFdAHOHz40iZA_2y2xb-umss6VVxtIO1tKqJdMVnDgCWkaXhMdAJuWVdS_cQpJXItTlDx/s320/Rainbows+and+Rainclouds.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">You'll need 4mm dpns and DK yarn. I've used a fuzzy white DK for both, teamed with a soft grey (Rowan Revive) to make fluffy clouds and bright rainbow colours to make, well, a rainbow. I've not listed gauge as it's pretty stretchy and small, but I suggest you knit loosely so that the slipped stitches create little scallops.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Abbreviations:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">K - Knit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">P- Purl</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">S1 - Slip one stitch (literally move it from the left needle onto the right needle without knitting it)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">K2tog - Knit two stitches together</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">YO - yarn over.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Kfb - Knit the front and back of the stitch.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Cast on 56 stitches in your main colour (ie. grey or rainbow red for mine) and arrange on dpns (I used a set of five, so each working needle had 14 stitches)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Set up Round 1 - Knit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Set up Round 2 - Knit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Switch to contrast colour (white fuzzy for mine) </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Round 1 - (k1,s1) repeat to end</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Round 2 - (p1, sl) repeat to end</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Round 3 - Knit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Round 4 - Knit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Switch to main colour</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Round 5 - (s1, k1) repeat to end</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Round 6 - (s1, p1) repeat to end</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Round 7 - Knit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Round 8 - Knit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Repeat rounds 1 to 8 until piece reaches neck of jar, then work rounds 1-3.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Eyelet row - (k2tog, yo) repeat to end.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Next round - Knit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Switch to contrast colour</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Next round - (kfb) repeat to end.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Bind off. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Weave in the ends, thread a ribbon through the eyelets and warm up your jar. Admire!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjVcH_T2K1vMIe8KeQ1kmSfDHpw9KrO1mbtY0hPjoe06jGAxTyS17AIrKY9cGtS5MtFJyyI3C0pE89ISCX5DOtR3rMbTZcRWkED0AVfOyd-_iKlqAehWSQ1zI3f9sNlFghgzV9RC9CMTB/s1600/Inner+Rainbow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjVcH_T2K1vMIe8KeQ1kmSfDHpw9KrO1mbtY0hPjoe06jGAxTyS17AIrKY9cGtS5MtFJyyI3C0pE89ISCX5DOtR3rMbTZcRWkED0AVfOyd-_iKlqAehWSQ1zI3f9sNlFghgzV9RC9CMTB/s320/Inner+Rainbow.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I'm working on a third one at the moment in two green yarns which don't have the fuzzy aspect. I have to admit I think this slip stitch pattern benefits from at least one of the yarns having a touch of fuzz, but we'll see when it's finished..</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If you work this pattern up, I'd love to see it - either link me on here or post on the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/CoffeeAndCream/rainclouds-and-rainbows">ravelry project page</a>. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">As with all my patterns, they are for personal or charity use only. Enjoy! :)</div>Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-27652593798111449782011-04-03T14:41:00.000-07:002011-04-03T15:07:08.417-07:00Green Stuff Makes Me Happy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Rtixsvqz0SJaKe3y-gI-TyZ309asidrwvIVvs9mcw0xTKsp7SGI_55fhnfkcesiERnBH9wu06lKqTp671sW614TAql9azV_uUu4TvWnB1JVYxnvxa2VscnKh_uaIneSUEsa-6iB7rwq0/s1600/Daffodils.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Rtixsvqz0SJaKe3y-gI-TyZ309asidrwvIVvs9mcw0xTKsp7SGI_55fhnfkcesiERnBH9wu06lKqTp671sW614TAql9azV_uUu4TvWnB1JVYxnvxa2VscnKh_uaIneSUEsa-6iB7rwq0/s320/Daffodils.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Happy Mother's Day to all mums out there - hope you've been spoilt rotten by your families! I was lucky enough to get a purple poppy bucket from my son (ahem- I might have demanded it a while ago!), but he also made me a little lego planter of flowers and gifted me the velvet bag I bought him *years* ago with Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans on it (it's awesome - will take pictures in the daylight tomorrow and bore you all with them!). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I've been mainly busy sowing and growing here; I can't wait until late May when I can plant out all these new little babies. I am absolutely delighted with the new baby strawberry plants - their second leaves have just come through and they are tiny but perfectly strawberryish! Here's a picture of them, with my prune-y little finger to show how wee they are...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFg5yJSIEpHl6brhxrnKlVy-abjJyG3kprS8-s1QkWcJakadjRdt-J-29vdErHPN3tt0YQ9V9VjIQBEfrDnvGKzo9KjC7mmulKewtqNDHCgjsyTz0Hj3GWpQCGo71FHKJ-GL0mi3SrsmX/s1600/Baby+Strawberries.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFg5yJSIEpHl6brhxrnKlVy-abjJyG3kprS8-s1QkWcJakadjRdt-J-29vdErHPN3tt0YQ9V9VjIQBEfrDnvGKzo9KjC7mmulKewtqNDHCgjsyTz0Hj3GWpQCGo71FHKJ-GL0mi3SrsmX/s320/Baby+Strawberries.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And my windowsill lettuces are about ready to start eating the thinnings. Grown in a catering size gravy tub I bought home from work to recycle (make brilliant handled plant tubs!). I love the way these look with the light coming through them - they really are quite magical :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcYrGs0HQw8olzNXdhKjraqjK5UPl3iLGCLAswxl5qSbdOF29UvOOeneL8e8cKYMEXYhwac2Z4zVVFy9HDtsDV8NgyR3paYd5zznd2m9JN2HJPY4dX8LhKIFuUzLPDsmAmjZWVlzC4L4ru/s1600/Lettuces.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcYrGs0HQw8olzNXdhKjraqjK5UPl3iLGCLAswxl5qSbdOF29UvOOeneL8e8cKYMEXYhwac2Z4zVVFy9HDtsDV8NgyR3paYd5zznd2m9JN2HJPY4dX8LhKIFuUzLPDsmAmjZWVlzC4L4ru/s320/Lettuces.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I've been searching online for a good seed supplier and came across <a href="http://www.vegetableseeds.net/">http://www.vegetableseeds.net</a> - they have a good range (I *need* asparagus peas!) and even better, they offer free p&p and seeds with each order. Customer comments are all really encouraging, so I'll be giving them a go. If you have a favourite flower or veg to grow in containers, shout out now!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Knitting pattern coming tomorrow; I need that daylight again to take photos in. I'll sign off with a picture of the seedy pouches I made, resting on a background of Current Quilting Project/Insanity...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJqm9XAOJNILdI8gpnPl-VyX55XDiiVOxS_QiYuPWTFzEdB2Lp5EKh7FRDkmgp6qWEYhxI58l3Gl7BdGHxUXsvXlch4OEGTugj7oJtJnCYzTqXp1lYnHME3NNjl0YFMnIdwCYfpMiRMIC/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJqm9XAOJNILdI8gpnPl-VyX55XDiiVOxS_QiYuPWTFzEdB2Lp5EKh7FRDkmgp6qWEYhxI58l3Gl7BdGHxUXsvXlch4OEGTugj7oJtJnCYzTqXp1lYnHME3NNjl0YFMnIdwCYfpMiRMIC/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-63631073403609585672011-03-27T07:49:00.000-07:002011-04-08T14:10:14.071-07:00Giveaway Winners!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7n6AqHqdUsfHQ0N7_QobGrYY4WXrA7qtPfe0nNQgS0sJ_D0exjMmldQgF1fk1Om9mizeYRE_mSqaH_rjgst2qiaietqaYSWzdEWf0NWOh8WLdK93Zbt5G4GlT8ORsWGUqaxaED8sQW48V/s1600/Seeds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7n6AqHqdUsfHQ0N7_QobGrYY4WXrA7qtPfe0nNQgS0sJ_D0exjMmldQgF1fk1Om9mizeYRE_mSqaH_rjgst2qiaietqaYSWzdEWf0NWOh8WLdK93Zbt5G4GlT8ORsWGUqaxaED8sQW48V/s320/Seeds.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Using a random number generator, the winners of the seeds are comment 1 and 5 -<a href="http://starchildsuniverse.blogspot.com/">tyarastarchild</a> and <a href="http://greenpixey.blogspot.com/">Greenpixey</a>! Congratulations! Drop me an email or <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/people/CoffeeAndCream">ravelry</a> message with your details, and I'll get them in the post to you both :) Big thanks to those begged to come over from Ravelry to enter ;)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Despite the weather forecaster's threats, it is beautiful and sunny here again today which makes it all the more annoying that I'm about to go off to work. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'm also working on a couple more patterns to share, the first of which makes Douwe Egberts coffee jars woolly....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Edited to add that I've sent messages to tyarastarchild through her blog and on ravelry, but had no response from her. I've hung on for two weeks, but as these seeds do need to be sown soon for this year's harvest, I've returned to the random number generator to pick another winner. Congratulations to Psychedelic Elephants - message on its way!</div>Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-54838190416472271292011-03-24T09:07:00.000-07:002011-03-24T09:07:13.524-07:00Spring CraftingFew crafty projects to share :) Fancied doing something with a needle and thread for a change, so I revisited my old love of cross stitching to make a rabbity lavender sachet. Was rather difficult to get a decent photo of it as the thread colour matches the aida, but here it is!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pMlP7bVPY2tcQc4hyphenhyphenqq87GNVTINjrOPbnDi1gfADAtQWSerW26XWzPeIvDL50kufTR_bk0IyOT78nUMwwPlMvKOOMeX47pAx3QQRvsB8dWPqc65ZzhgSZjRla-TR6q-dtg847pR7AMLv/s1600/Lavender+Bunny.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pMlP7bVPY2tcQc4hyphenhyphenqq87GNVTINjrOPbnDi1gfADAtQWSerW26XWzPeIvDL50kufTR_bk0IyOT78nUMwwPlMvKOOMeX47pAx3QQRvsB8dWPqc65ZzhgSZjRla-TR6q-dtg847pR7AMLv/s320/Lavender+Bunny.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2KtCcTC6tA49UvXSv_goeQ6cn5D_SLPU4TT7ZwNrcamTHO2HCw0hie_mVtGZFJLoVkWd7apIHZyjQWQmEkJdS2404E0LyXMGGGZCC6sz6b7c8TiE1jXhanLM-_4sB6dsIv5zH3-sQTP3/s1600/Bunny.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2KtCcTC6tA49UvXSv_goeQ6cn5D_SLPU4TT7ZwNrcamTHO2HCw0hie_mVtGZFJLoVkWd7apIHZyjQWQmEkJdS2404E0LyXMGGGZCC6sz6b7c8TiE1jXhanLM-_4sB6dsIv5zH3-sQTP3/s320/Bunny.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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For my crochet fix, I chose a flower to hook from Bonita patterns. It's her <a href="http://bonitapatterns.tumblr.com/">Croco Flower</a> available for free. It looks like a big yarny mess when you've finished hooking it, but once the petals have been smoothed down, it's sooo pretty! I edged each stitch with 2 single crochet stitches in embroidery thread to make the rainbow effect. I think it would look gorgeous with a charcoal yarn as the main colour, so a future project in store!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIHXvpFvO5n_WMj3qk0uuT1ZR6tSKnnocdttQz32CL19rPDv5Xk9mKffVodm6cXtY61fG59mT7fpzbGhyTCrpan-ApdrnYae4uM-pkiqK6taixC0kmTib8aRAZOwCgTg-LRKuLUl1TaV_L/s1600/Crocoflower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIHXvpFvO5n_WMj3qk0uuT1ZR6tSKnnocdttQz32CL19rPDv5Xk9mKffVodm6cXtY61fG59mT7fpzbGhyTCrpan-ApdrnYae4uM-pkiqK6taixC0kmTib8aRAZOwCgTg-LRKuLUl1TaV_L/s320/Crocoflower.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqu-kKes4jZPcChJPLR5CrCAKRr4mTN3SIMuzxH6kPPFEkpzmuqL26Uluu50CKy09UNviJnAoNo0hhkBkeEp2WD_fDib2ctOQgZxPiUH-9pdVxKyeNlWYlbQWk0FTgug8kCGt5oIzb4ar/s1600/Croco+Flower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqu-kKes4jZPcChJPLR5CrCAKRr4mTN3SIMuzxH6kPPFEkpzmuqL26Uluu50CKy09UNviJnAoNo0hhkBkeEp2WD_fDib2ctOQgZxPiUH-9pdVxKyeNlWYlbQWk0FTgug8kCGt5oIzb4ar/s320/Croco+Flower.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Lastly, I've been working a rather daft knitting project for a few days, which helps satisfy my need to cover everything with yarn! Lucy over at Attic24 handily published a free <a href="http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/teeny-tiny-hearts.html">heart pattern</a> this week which was just what I needed to complete this project!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYNc1gkLja63LIJXfbkHJMallKlL5uRq2wH95r2dY5tLtTRV-bmaPP9vP_rGAIAurVgn8mOh1gHBqrbZGlJQWOicSK0Bjy9FiQ-f5G2j-w_BBVb5LJKqST1CwTqARvFD7sYcJ4eletcLZ/s1600/Leaves.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYNc1gkLja63LIJXfbkHJMallKlL5uRq2wH95r2dY5tLtTRV-bmaPP9vP_rGAIAurVgn8mOh1gHBqrbZGlJQWOicSK0Bjy9FiQ-f5G2j-w_BBVb5LJKqST1CwTqARvFD7sYcJ4eletcLZ/s320/Leaves.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUr2Ir83NqVwcW_5fbmw5iugdH2zxbb_dCigubyuWs_-iQsL5TVLAQKzXvUkeR70nuIPXqalQeFA74MkhOyAqmG-yyEXVzOJBvxRFLYVT1QfCuT3CzFUAnXUZGQFZXsR4tojIYYi8NNQJJ/s1600/Little+Leaves.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUr2Ir83NqVwcW_5fbmw5iugdH2zxbb_dCigubyuWs_-iQsL5TVLAQKzXvUkeR70nuIPXqalQeFA74MkhOyAqmG-yyEXVzOJBvxRFLYVT1QfCuT3CzFUAnXUZGQFZXsR4tojIYYi8NNQJJ/s320/Little+Leaves.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I used the pattern to make leaves - don't they make perfect plump ones? And this is what I attached them to.....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMv4P2zQh1hk-3iXUavW-esDnx3W8jJT2ssOKfqLnGxZKL5KDSv7PUmI_fBP2lDC9titk_vrFAksKaje9Z2txGJh-piMH6qKNS2lhrHDIcZJrjNaBRF7PC2X-FVWJMIFQua5CX307-02Ek/s1600/Strawberry+Clock.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMv4P2zQh1hk-3iXUavW-esDnx3W8jJT2ssOKfqLnGxZKL5KDSv7PUmI_fBP2lDC9titk_vrFAksKaje9Z2txGJh-piMH6qKNS2lhrHDIcZJrjNaBRF7PC2X-FVWJMIFQua5CX307-02Ek/s320/Strawberry+Clock.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
A clock! It's a modern reproduction of a 1940s kitchen clock, but it had enamelled sides in a really odd cream colour - it was a cold cream, rather than warm and just didn't look right against the magnolia walls. <br />
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I covered the clock with a k3, p1 ribbed sleeve, with an eyelet edge, hooked some strawberry <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/treat-them-to-dinner">flowers</a> and knitted lots of <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knit-strawberries">strawberries</a> to decorate it with. It's been up on the wall for a couple of days, leafless and without the strawberry "seeds" until I finally worked out what was missing! Seeds are embroidery thread french knots - lots of them.<br />
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I'm really pleased with how this has turned out and a good way to mark 200 projects on <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/people/CoffeeAndCream">Ravelry</a>!<br />
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How are you celebrating the change of Seasons?Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941845154996497013.post-88335014978611250942011-03-22T08:36:00.000-07:002011-03-24T16:03:11.296-07:00Free Seeds Giveaway!It's been such a gorgeous day here - Spring is well and truly arriving :) I've been pottering around outside and planted up loads more seeds ready for this season's harvest of pretties and noms. I've been happily flicking through seed packets seeing which are ready to be sown now, and which ones I need to be patient with for a little longer. There is something magical about seed packets with their glorious pictures of "when I grow up" on the front.<br />
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Anyway, amongst them I found some I'm not going to plant - either because I already have a zillion packets (rocket) or because I've already planted a different variety (tomatoes) or because I really don't like the finished veg enough to grant it precious soil space (sprouts!). They came with the seed potatoes last year, need sowing by the end of April and are good until 2012. <br />
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The seeds are: Wild Rocket, Tomato (Moneymaker), Tomato (Gardener's Delight) and Brussel Sprouts (Falstaff - a purple variety). <br />
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Um. I took a picture of them for you. But my mind was still thinking "must plant more" instead of "clean table up a bit, remove coffee mug which I was unable to carry from kitchen to garden without spilling before taking pictures". Sorry. It's my favourite coffee mug too, and very apt ;)<br />
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(ooooh, Blogger has finally altered photo-shoving-in tool to shove them in where cursor is rather than dumping them all at the top of the blog! Wooo!)<br />
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I have two sets of each of the 4 packets of seeds to give away. As they're seeds, you need to be in the UK to enter. Just leave a comment and I'll do a random drawing at the end of the week. Make sure you leave some way of letting me contact you. <br />
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I feel a bit nervous doing this - not sure if anyone apart from the lovely Anita stops by here on a regular basis!<br />
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Right, back to the garden to clean up after myself!<br />
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Edited to add - thank you to the Ravelers who've come to my rescue on this one!Coffee And Creamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08313455176968511300noreply@blogger.com6