Thursday, December 19, 2013

Merry Christmas!

Today I have stitched...
 
 
and wrapped...
 
 
I have baked and cleaned ...
have written Christmas cards,
and finished my Christmas shopping.
I am ready :)
 

And a very merry Christmas to all :)
 
I have to say that
this has been the most extraordinary year.
I'm fairly sure that I have experienced
every possible emotion this year :)
The good,
and the not so good...
 
New friends,
and new experiences.
Times of delight and fun,
and plenty of laughs.
But,
 in all honesty, 
 there have also been times
that have been incredibly physically demanding.
And...
times of pain.
 
I have learnt so much about myself this year,
but I have also learnt there is much
about
human nature that I am sure
I will never work out.
Well...
I guess that's what keeps it interesting.

So ...
I can't wait for Christmas Eve -
my favourite part of Christmas.
It just feels ever so slightly magical
and if you listen
very very carefully ... :)

Merry Christmas :)
Jenny xx
 


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Pretty nice :)

I'm just going to pretend
that it hasn't been months
and months
since I've written ?!?
Can't pretend,
though, 
 that I've not missed
my stitching,
but
life has a habit of changing
and change is good :)
 
But spring brings renewed enthusiasm
for all sorts of things,
and one thing
that never fails to amaze me
is
how the garden here
delights and surprises me
year after year.
The bluebells and tulips have been and gone,
and now it is the turn of delphiniums,
foxgloves and
granny's bonnets.
 
 
The brilliant blue delphinium spikes
are so prolific this year -
I'm picking bunches of them for inside.
 
 
And so far,
fingers crossed,
there have been no full blast winds
to break them down.
 
 
I decided that I really really needed
to stitch some little pretties
again.
And Christmas is coming,
so yes,
I thought,
if I start now,
I can make some little gifts.
 
I made this little heart,
just for fun,
and just for me,
to kick start my stitchy mojo again.



 
 
And today I played,
with my favourite things -
linen and lace
of course,
and a few little words ...
 

...live, laugh & love...
 

...friendship...
 

...happiness ...
 

 
... and a few notes of music :)
 
I'll decorate these now,
with a little bit of embroidery maybe,
some buttons and hearts -
a bit of this and a bit of that.
 
It's nice to be stitching again.
And it's nice to watch my garden grow.
And even though it's ridiculously busy,
life is pretty nice too:)
 
Jenny


 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

A little stitched dress...

So this is what I am working on
at the moment.
It started with a little dress 
that I stitched onto linen,
about seven or maybe even eight years ago!
I remember which house I was living in
when I stitched it,
and it certainly wasn't this one,
or the one before:)
 
And then,
as so often seems to happen with me,
it sat for a while,
but it was never covered up,
or in a pile.
It was always in view,
'cos I loved it.
It just took a little while
to do something with it.
 
 
... I added some buttons,
beads,
and stitches...
 
 
... lace,
of course...
 

...added some borders...
 

 

...and I'm going to pop it into
a gorgeous old oak (I think it is) frame.
It's taken a while
but it's nearly finished
and now I can get the next half completed project
back on the go.
I need to go now -
need to figure out how to make it fit,
(and stay in)
the frame :)
See you
Jenny
 

Saturday, April 13, 2013

So I wondered.....

...and I have been wondering
for a quite a while now,
what to do.
You see,
I have all these
''samples''
from my shop days
and
what do I do with them all.
They could sit folded
on
shelves
as they do now
for another few years,
but I've been thinking
that maybe I should just try
and let them go.
Find them homes :)
 
 
Some will be hard to let go of
cos they have memories attached to them,
but
seriously,
the time has come.
So,
if you are at all interested
then pop on over to
facebook,
the Makers Studio page,
see ... it's on the sidebar,
or the Makers Studio blog
and have a look.
Or email me here -
I don't mind :)
I'll just do bits and pieces
over the next few days,
weeks,
whatever:)
I'm not all that fussed
about prices.
Make me an offer :)
I would just like to see them go somewhere
other
than sitting on my shelves.
 
See you
Jenny :)
 

Friday, March 29, 2013

Chairs and chocolate :)

I bought these chairs
nearly a year ago,
for just a tiny few dollars
at auction.
They were covered in dust and dirt
but I knew they had good bones:)
 
 
Well...
the other day when I was making
my little heart block,
and pondering what to do with it,
I had a thought.
It happens sometimes,
the thought bit :)
I wondered if I could make it fit
the chair.
Thought it might make
quite a nice addition
to my bedroom if it worked.
So....
I've had a go...
 
 
...and I'm loving the chair.
 
 
Really happy with it :)
 
 
It is the most fabulous
glorious
autumn day here.
Not a breath of wind,
warm and mellow,
and I'm thinking (again:)
that just maybe
 it's time for an afternoon
coffee
and a little treat or two :)
 
 
Have a lovely relaxing
chocolately
Easter.
See you :)
Jenny
 
 

Sunday, March 17, 2013

My little linen heart

Maybe two years ago,
maybe more,
I stitched this little heart
onto some linen.
Loved it then,
and love it now:)
 
 
I wasn't sure how or where I would use it.
Thought about a cushion,
but really,
I do not need another cushion.
 

So I pulled out bits and pieces of linen
and lace
and other little treats ...
 

... and I stitched up a random log cabin block
around my little heart.
For a few days, now,
 it has sat
 on the end of my kitchen table.
Every time I have walked past it
I have thought "what should I do with you".
 
 
.... and now I know ....
See you soon,
and I will show you.
Have a lovely week:)
Jenny
 

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Vintage Eggs?

I've been making :)
Vintage inspired easter eggs.
Have had such fun and,
yeah,
I know there's not a stitch in sight,
but there is lots of lace,
and ribbon,
and buttons
and other bits and bobs
that were lurking in the sewing room.
So,
I started with some polystyrene eggs from work,
covered some of them with pattern tissue
and some with just plain tissue ...
...I collected up some ''stuff''
to play with ...
... and with glue in hand,
( but not the glue gun, mind you -
me and glue guns absolutely do not get on -
I end up covered from head to toe in glue,
I usually have several finger burns
and nothing stays where it is supposed to stay -
some time ago I figured out
that PVA is a much much better option for me!!!)
So with a paint brush and a dollop of PVA at the ready,
I started to add a bit here and there to the eggs.
...some of Barb's gorgeous buttons...
...little heart trinkets...
... lots of my gorgeous vintage lace ...
... bits of ribbon and twine ...
... buttons and bows...

So there you have it,
my take on vintage inspired
decorated easter eggs.
I've sat them in a little wire basket 
in the hallway,
a little early perhaps
for Easter,
but
I really like them
so I want to enjoy them for a while.
I will, however,
be fully expecting a decent haul
of the real chocolately thing
come Easter.
 
And...
I've been knitting.
We got the most gorgeous yarn in at work this week.
It's a wool alpaca mix called Perfect Day
and I had spied the perfect pattern on the shelves
a few weeks back,
so I simply could not resist.


I've even started a little cross stitch project,
and
I have some crochet on the go as well!!!
It's good to be back in the stitchy place:)
Have a fabulous week :)
Jenny


Saturday, February 16, 2013

The Perfect Day :)

I had a lovely wee day out
last Sunday.
Admittedly it was an pretty early start,
out of bed at 5.30 (yuk)
and on the road by 6.30.
Off to Queenstown for the day.
It was a bit of a last minute decision...
just felt the need to get out
and away
for a day.
Jake had a race on up there
so I decided I would go with him.
The day couldn't have been more perfect.
You know how sometimes they just happen,
those perfect days.
Not necessarily because it's anything
fantastically
out of the ordinary
or amazingly different
or incredibly exciting,
but just because it's just perfect
and in a sense it is all of those things:)
 
 
The sun was shining all day,
hot and clear,
and I took off with my camera for a walk
through the bush
while Jake did his practice runs.
 
It's been a while since I've had some serious
camera time.
So I just wandered and snapped.
 

 
 
 

 
 



 
 
After the race we went into town,
found the most amazing bakery,
bought fresh bread and cakes,
coffee and juice,
and found a patch of grass
beside the little creek that runs through the town,
where we sat in the sun and ate our lunch,
Perfect.
I have to say that the chocolate fudge was so
 perfect that I just had to go back and
buy some more.
It was as close to chocolate heaven that you will ever get.
Unbelievably perfectly perfect chocolate fudge.
 
All too soon it seemed like we had to start
the drive home.
 
 
 
But yeah :)
It was the perfect day,
and what's even more perfect
is that I think I have found my
stitching
mojo
again :))))
A very very sweet friend
was visiting this week.
She gave me a gorgeous magazine
absolutely filled with
very sweet ideas ...
and I am inspired.
I will be back to show you the first one soon.
It's all to do with easter:)
See you later
Jenny.
 


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Having fun :)

Yep,
time does indeed fly
when you are having fun!
And I most definitely have been having fun,
but I have been working hard as well:)
And in between,
I've been enjoying our summer
which seems to have returned
in full force
these past few days.
 
It's lovely :)
 
 
Been out in the garden this evening
after coming home from work,
and brushing past the lavender
made me think
that I should cut swathes of it
and bring it inside.
Often I forget to do this
until it's almost too late
and the color is fading.
 
 
I knew the perfect place for it.
Jake made me this fabulous trug
for Christmas.
Isn't it gorgeous.
In all honesty I was so surprised
as I did not realise he possessed
such skills.
He has built it so beautifully
and
I think the lavender looks amazing in it.
 

This pic is taken underneath our plum tree
which has a ridiculous amounts of fruit
on it this year.
 
 
Last year I think we would have been stretching it
to say
we had six plums on the tree.
This year ...
more like six hundred!!!
Go figure.
How does that work?
 

 
The plums are delicious
and I'm at the stage where I try one each day.
They are still a few days off tasting amazing.
At the moment we are still in the
take a tentative bite stage,
wait for it,
yep,
still sour,
(and boy, does that taste wake you up!!)
I reckon just a few more days
of this fabulous sunshiney weather
and we will have more plums
 than we will know what to do with.
 
I have the day off tomorrow
so I am hoping for more glorious sunshine,
and I fully intend to spend
the whole day,
every single part of it,
in my garden.
 

The two stitcheries in this post
are from many years ago.
They were among the first I ever stitched,
designed by Cathy Penton.
I have quite a few of her designs stitched
and they remain some
of my very very favourite pieces.
 
Have to leave you with this quote.
I love these words.
 

I'm off to make some dinner,
and to start a little
cross stitch project!!
See you later
Jenny :)