The perfect present for a 6 month old...

When my husband was looking for his next cross stitching project he saw this kit and just knew that he wanted to sew it for our daughter who has just turned six months old.

My husband dedicates a lot of time to reading our daughter books of every kind but she especially loves the Mr Men books. So when he spied a height chart with mr men he simply had to give it a go.

The hardest part was trying to find the right place to start as finding middle of such a long project was not easy... But once he started on one the rest fell into place.

He has probably taken about a month to complete the project by completing a bit every night...

When he finished the pattern he also wanted to dedicate it to our daughter... Her nickname is 'little face' hence why it says 'for face'. My husband was particularly pleased with this as he didn't follow a pattern and did it freehand.

The piece is now waiting to be stretched and framed and hopefully will be enjoyed for years to come...

The heart of the matter...

After the success of the crab cupcakes my husband wanted to test his baking skills.  But, not to be outdone by my red velveteen cupcakes he decided to make a giant rainbow coloured sponge heart cake!

Again, this recipe was from 'Zombie ate my Cupcake' by lily Vanili... And she shows you how to make lots of mini hearts as cupcakes and how to make rainbow coloured cake.

My husband painstakingly bought all the ingredients making sure that he bought gel food colouring rather than liquid colouring...

He made six colours of sponge mix and then carefully layered it together.

Once baked he rolled out some fondant to make the outside layer and dyed the icing pink.

For the fake blood he used tinned summer fruits...

The cake tasted amazing and our nephews loved it! Gruesome but nice!

A bump for a World Book Day...

Between the school I work at and the nursery I send my daughter to there is no getting away from World Book Day.

I was informed last week that the children at my daughters nursery would be taking part in this day by reading from their favourite books and dressing up as characters from books... My heat sank. My daughter is only six months old (in fact 6 months today!) and has problems knowing what is edible and what is not so dressing her up in fancy dress was not something that I relished. On top of that is the fact that the show that I am currently working on with my school goes in to crazy week and I felt I really didn't have the time to be faffing over a costume.

While coming home inspiration struck ... What about a decorated baby grow?

My husband is good at copying from pictures so he offered to copy a Mr. man from my daughters bookcase... And he chose Mr. bump.

The character was drawn on a plain white baby grow with sharpie which didn't bleed...

She looked a little cutie!

Take note...

I think it is important to remember which projects you have done, achieved and enjoyed.

So, I created a couple of notebooks with photos of the projects that me and my husband had done over the years.

It is really nice to have a permanent record of the little things we have made - especially gifts that have been given to others.

It is also a useful reference particularly if I am wanting to go back and try a craft again as I have also made sure that some of my not so successful projects are also in there.

My husband was dubious of me doing a little book for him but I catch him from time to time looking at it and pleased that he has a record of it.

Does anyone else do this?

Monsters included...

After the success of the dice monster it was my turn to try sewing my own monster.

I chose the pillow monster as I had a load of purple furry fabric in my stash which I thought would look good.

Again, the pattern was from 'dastardly delightful monsters' and the pattern was easy to follow.

All I needed (besides the fabric) was some pink felt, some red felt (for the inside of the mouth), a couple of buttons and a zip.

This was the first project in which I had used a zip so it was a new skill to add to my repertoire!

The furry fabric was quite an open weave so had to be all sewn by hand. The stuffing was polystyrene balls... I still had a HUGE bag of them!

I was pleased with the result... And I can't wait to make another one of these!

Sewing with Cath...

Another of my greatest loves is Cath Kidston. I love the fabric, the designs and the homemade element of her things.

I particularly love her craft books: 'sew', 'stitch', 'patch' and 'make'. Free with her 'sew' book is the fabric and pattern for a bag. And I thought I would give it a go.

The instructions were easy to follow but I was grateful that the pieces were pre cut for this first project as I felt that this project was not for the beginner although the book does come with a massive pattern sheet which is, again, very clear.

It got me used to using my sewing machine (which was very new at that point) which was very useful but as the material was quite thick it made me test the tension on the machine too (another skill I had to learn!)

The project took me a couple of evenings to complete. However, I did tweak the instructions a little and did not make a loop for the button but instead sewed Velcro on the inside of the bag for a fastening.

All in all a great project for Cath Kidston fans... I'm certainly hooked!

Gambling with monsters...

During a particularly stressful supermarket shop I found myself going down the book aisle ( a fairly normal occurrence) and saw a couple of sewing kits going cheap and bought them on a whim.

 The first of these books was 'Dastardly delightful monsters' (see link below) and instantly feel in love with the quirky designs and bright colours - something a bit different.

 My husband had a quick flick though and then instantly picked one that he wanted to make. The 'Dizzy Die'. This was probably the most complicated one to make but my husband likes to set himself a challenge!

 Thankfully the book has easy to follow instructions and very clear templates to follow. I would recommend the book for beginners to sewing as most of the designs require felt which doesn't fray and something relatively simple with great looking results!

Starting with a smile...

When I first moved to York I was in desperate need of something to occupy my mind other than my work which was taking over pretty much every ounce of my life. I then made a discovery that was to change my life forever. Hobbycraft.

This discovery was made when me and my husband went to do one of our favourite pastimes. Looking at fish. This particular fish watchery was The Deep in Hull - an amazing place which we have visited many times since and has plenty of things to do for families. At that time though we were still unmarried and the idea of children was a dim and distant thing for the future.

We ended up getting a little lost around hull. Anyone who knows me will know that this is not an unusual occurrence as I probably couldn't find my way out of a paper bag. My sense of direction is rubbish. Anyway, we ended up in a car park outside Hobbycraft. My day brightened up immeasurably!

From that day I have spent many an hour wandering around the store.

I also love their website (hence the link appearing on my blog many, many times. On this website they have an ideas page which is a wonder to behold and I challenge any seasoned crafter to look at it and not come away with a bit of inspiration.

And this is what happened with my 'smile' bag. I was still relatively new to the whole crafting thing so I wanted to start with an easy but effective project. And this was it:

I didn't want my bag to say 'love' on it but 'smile' instead as I considered using it for my school books (as a Lamda teacher I ALWAYS have books!) and thought it would be a nice sentiment for my students to see especially first thing on a Monday morning. I also wanted the letters to have an almost monochrome effect.

I typed the letters in a word document on the computer and played with the fonts so they were all different. After printing the letters out they were then cut out and I traced the letters on the fabric. The letters were then cut out and then I out bondaweb on the back and ironed the letters to the calico bag.

 I find bondaweb heaven and hell ... Heaven when it works. Hell when it sticks to the iron!

I then appliquéd the letters.

It was satisfying finishing it. I again plan to do another couple of these but what they will be - who knows!

A bed of roses ... Book review

With everything that is currently going on in my life it was imperative that I had a book that was pure escapism and something that was light enough that I could dip in and out of when needed.

 Nora Roberts specialising in these kinds of books. And 'A Bed of Roses' was just he kind of escapism that I needed. It is actually the second book in the bridal quartet series but worked quite nicely on its own. 

It is set around a wedding planning business called Vows which is run by four close friends who all have a particular skill in wedding preparation. This book mostly focuses on the character of Emma who is in charge of everything to do with flowers. Emma is lovely and falls for commitment phobe Jack whom she has known since childhood and Emma has to learn to come to terms with the idea of falling in love with such a man and whether he can give her the fairy tale ending that she so deeply desires.

 This book was perfect for my mood - cosy, beautifully likeable characters and a happy ending which will make you feel gooey inside. If I find the others of the quartet on my travels I may get them as I want to find out what happens to the other three of the friends.;If you like a fluffy romance with a happy ending this is the book for you.

The life, the universe and everything...

Many Christmases ago my Dads then girlfriend gave me a paint your own Cow Parade Cow. Up until recently I had ignored it and it moved from house to house with me not because I didn't like the gift but because I had in idea what to paint on it. My biggest problem is that I didn't want to make a hash of it. I wanted something that could sit on a shelf and I could say 'I did that' and it also had to pass the 'husband test' of him not saying 'that's-nice-dear-maybe-it-can-go-in-your-office(-so-I-can't-see-it!)

I love the work of Douglas Adams. There isn't a single thing of his that I have not listened to, read or watched. My favourite pastime is listening to 'The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy' radio series generally last thing at night as I find it funny and strangely soothing. And it was from this I drew my inspiration!

After deciding on an initial idea I then drew out a plan on a back of an envelope (I really wish I was exaggerating but it was the only thing I had to hand!) I can't draw to save my life but at least I knew what I wanted and needed the next time I popped to my local craft store!

Going around said craft store is an immense pleasure of mine which is about on a par with browsing around a bookshop for me. There is something calming about those places and therefore makes me calm too. I bought my supplies (perhaps a few more than needed) and was ready to start!

The cow itself got painted in navy blue acrylic paint, highlighted with a copper acrylic paint on hooves and horns. I then stuck on my letters, numbers and stars firmly using super glue (I wasn't sure how the adhesive would stand up to being stuck on a curved surface). I also slathered the cows main body in iridescent glitter glue to give it a nice sheen but also to look a little like smaller stars.

It was left to dry.

I had decided to pay homage to the character of Arthur Dent, the human caught up in the adventures across the galaxy who spends most of the book wearing his dressing gown. I had to make a draft of this as I wasn't quite sure how a dressing gown on a cow was going to quite fit! Once the draft was roughly fitted I could start on the real thing - making a collar, belt loops and two pockets - which were all hand sewn as it was too delicate to go through the sewing machine. The belt was then threaded through the belt loops and tied on to the cow!

I was pleased with the result and it now sits on a shelf above the tv (a sure sign that my husband approves too!)

My Starter for Ten

One of my day jobs is as a Lamda speech and drama teacher. As a former lamda speech and drama student myself I had always aspired to become a teacher of it myself.

One of the many joys of the job is getting to read. Lots. I am constantly on the look out for new literature, plays and poems for my students to test and tackle. My mum reads a lot to so there is a constant stream of books that how backwards and forwards between us.

I ended up reading 'Starter for Ten' by David Nicholls because of my mum. She said it would be a light read after giving birth! I had only just forgiven my mum for giving me 'One Day' to read - I was so devastated that it lived in the fridge for 48 hours (a strange tradition of mine which happens to all books that either upset or frighten me!)

David Nicholls is incredibly talented. Not only has he written novels but has turned tow of his novels into films. He has also written many things for television (including episodes of Cold Feet).

Starter for Ten (set in the 1980s) centres around an obsessive university teenager, Brian, who wishes to become part of a team on University Challenge. The story tells of his loves, friendships and sometimes quite bizarre adventures which he encounters to get there. At times the story is almost cringe worthy as Brian stumbles through trying to function as a normal as humanly possible - and failing to some extents! The novel is funny and witty and has an unexpected conclusion.

I have 'The Understudy' on my shelf still to read. Maybe it should be next on my list?

http://www.davidnichollswriter.com