prairie mouse

back in the saddle

finally i can post. for some unfathomable reason my computer would not search for the photos or did and couldn't find them or something that was right out of my league. anyway mcihael got it sorted early this morning so i couldn't wait to get back in the saddle. has been a while!

it has been an insanely busy week. tommy has his big class play on this week. they are doing 'a christms carol' and it is delightful. on opening night i sat with wet eyes all through the performance, half laughing because some of it is so funny and half blown away by my grown up child who plays bob cratchitt. tonight is the final performance so i am looking forward to that.

the rest of the week has been spent sewing a second run of toys which are patiently waiting to be stuffed and dressed, and making christmas decorations for the same store. photos of those will have to wait for another post but they were fun to make.

and inbetween all this i had an order for a 50th birthday cake which involved making a doll to look like the recipient. i finished icing it at midnight last night and delivered it this morning. now i am officially stuffed!

the birthday boy is never apparently without a cigar in one hand and a cell phone in the other. hope i look this young at 50!

now i might go and attend to the debris that has built up while i have been so busy. no photos of that!

instead of a dishcloth bag

i must have got tired of churning out the dishcloths because this appeared on my crochet hook! it was after the school fair last sunday morning. michael and tommy had gone out so prairie and i hunkered down to watch curious george. well i can't hunker without yarn so started without anything much in mind. and so began the bag for my neice. then i thought i had always wanted to crochet with strips of fabric so added some in (loved doing this). there was some orange and green cotton left and that says carrot so i whipped up a couple which is perfect for my neice as she was born in the year of the rabbit and i always try and give her something rabbity. i wanted to whip up a couple of flowers as well but the crit committee were in (t and p) and told me one carrot was enough (huh, i snuck another one on!) i lined it with some vintage fabric i had bought at the fabulous 'salvage' and its done! mmmm, might have to make another!

mish mash...

my first swap arrived yesterday! from lisa. look at the beautiful little stitches. the tootsies were put under lock and key until i took a photo but now i will let tommy and prairie have them. american candy is a novelty down here!

this morning i was looking at kates blog and saw a very cute giraffe made from kaffe fasset fabric. being a kaffe fan from way back and having stitched near all of his tapestries i was very excited to see his fabric. i e mailed kate to see where she got it. i had to go and meet michael and had time to spare so thought i'd drop into a patchwork store that some people have said i should look at. there it all was plus lots of other beautiful things so came home with this very restrained pile. i can't wait to get stuck into it!

and another of prairie's fimo dolls fresh out of the oven this morning!

and i have meaning to say that my crafters companion arrived the other day and i have not had it out of my hands. i love reading about everyone and it really makes you think about how and why you craft. i drift off thinking about my mum and all she has taught me all my life because i can't remember when i wasn't sewing and my darling grandma, margaret winifred-janie who taught me how to knit and crochet. between the two of them they had it covered!

busy busy

what a day, what a week! i delivered the toys on monday and they were put out on tuesday. michael and i went in on wednesday morning to see how they looked in situ and were greeted with 'they are going like hotcakes and we'll have 12 more' i guess i hoped that they would sell but wasn't expecting that! the rest of the week was spent finishing my pumpkin patch job and getting the christmas decoration swap done. i finished those last night and signed off the other job today. meanwhile we have our school fair on tomorrow that i am normally very involved in but this year i haven't been there which has been nice as well because normally i get really stressed because there is such a lot to do. so here i sit at 11.30pm with a couple of little things to do before i go to bed but i can actually squeeze in a post!
these are the 3 swaps i sent off. one to belgium, one to england and one to the states. i guess i can't show you until they have arrived but i can't wait. and the other thing i keep remembering is there will be goodies in the post for me!

and peanut butter cookies for the cake stall.

now i better go and attend to the last little things. michael is still at school waiting till midnight when the security guards take over. have a great weekend, oh and a very happy birthday to simmy!

c'est fin

i finally put the last stitch in the last jacket this morning!! here they are in twos and threes and the circle of friends. i was pleased we hadn't mown the lawn as the daisies are so pretty.

and lastly a very rare sight. can this be the same table that i posted yesterday? i know it won't last long but at least now i have a photo to remind me of what it can look like! have a lovely weekend - we have fireworks to let off on sunday night, an english tradition. we still get to buy crackers though they are threatening to put a stop to that pleasure. tommy and i are the pyros in this house and i would be very sad to see public displays only.
oh no tommy has set up the laptop on the newly cleared table. whats a girl to do!

wip friday again

how quickly the week rolls around! this wip is a good little marker for me to remind me to post or at least remind me when i last posted! i have been soooooooo busy. i have been finishing my toys and if i wasn't fussy enough before, lordy lordy i'm almost compulsive! and then in the middle of the week my dad had to have an operation so prairie and i went down (an hour and a half south from here) to keep my mum company (my dad is fine and a tough old boy for 80!). while i was there pumpkin patch called me with an urgent job so i went there this morning with some rough drawings that have to be ready by monday morning. fantastic but very full on! my toys are going to be delivered on monday morning which gives me a chance to photograph them all and re-do one of the boy's jackets. they are all piled up on the piano stool and michael said he didn't really want them to go away, he would miss them! prairie kisses each one to infuse some love and tommy will just be glad to have the piano stool back. still it has given him an excuse not to practise! me, well i hate parting with them but a cheque in my hot little hand will get me over that pretty fast! today i am going to have a bit of a clean up. this is what is on the floor and i thought it just had to be blogged.

these little hearts are about to be stuffed and a wee button stitched on them and then they will hang off the girl cats arms. they all have a little something. i'll take some photos tomorrow when i am happy with the jacket.

and here is a shocking sight. my work space. will i ever get that cleared so we can actually eat at the table tonight? oh for a studio. and i have to clear it so i can start the next job. where is that house fairy?! i will post the photos of the toys over the weekend, until then have a good one especially you my darling friend jules!!!