For Phoebe...

It's finished, the first of many. I am making all of my nieces one of these, a little cushion with a pocket and a mini owl softie. The fleece fabric is so warm and snuggly for little ones.


We are off to the Lake District tomorrow to visit my husbands family for the weekend, but also because on Thursday, it will be our 10th wedding anniversary, and we were lucky enough to get married in the church in the centre of Bowness-on-Windermere.


Then, next week is the start of the 2 week half term holiday. I have promised Lucy that while Luke is at nursery on Wednesday, we will have a girls dressing up day. She wants to wear her princess dress and she's asked me to wear.....my 'marrying' dress as she calls it, I'm going to feel like a right banana if anyone comes to the door!!

This weeks WIP

I mentioned in another post about making something for my niece using some of the lace from my mother-in-law's wedding dress. Well, I've made a start, only just!. There is a list of handmade christmas presents to get through in the next few months (hands up, who is doing the same!!), so I need to get cracking with it all.


Also, remember Bella?, well here is my new bracelet which I got in return for the craft swap. It is the one with the turquoise beads nestling there amongst my growing collection, I am rather a big fan of bracelets.


Now, back to sewing all those christmas presents for me......!

Something a bit different...

As crafting has been a bit thin on the ground for the last couple of weeks, I decided for this post I would talk about other bloggers for a change. In addition to the links in my sidebar, I also have over 100 blogs on Bloglines, a list which seems to grow daily. There are so many colourful, inspiring, creative blogs out there, I love seeing them all, but there are 3 in particular which are favourites of mine, here's who and why.

Firstly, Molly Chicken. Needs no introduction, I love Lyn's work, the characterisation her soft toys have, and the little background stories that accompany them. I also like the honesty that shines through in Lyn's amusing and witty posts, I often laugh out loud when reading her blog.

Next, Prairie Mouse. Now, I can't remember how I came across this blog, but I'm so glad I did. The quality of Louise's stitching is amazing (and I should know, I've seen it in the flesh!) All her creations have the sweetest faces, since I already have one of her dolls, my next plan is to get one of the adorable rabbits for my daughter.

Last, but not least, Dottie Angel. Tif's words will not only make you laugh, you will belly laugh! She adds such humour into each post, it is well worth reading all the archives if you haven't already. Then, there is all her embroidered slips and other goodies to marvel at too.

So, there you go, 3 fabulous blogs in a little nutshell. Leave a comment and tell me your favourites. To finish off, Bella the cat has defied all odds and made it to her destination despite the postal strikes. Here she is in her new home, with the original Bella.



See, they even have a matching single black spot on one of their front paws!.

Best friends and 'Softies Central'

Polly has been featured by Therese at Softies Central, best friends with her little mouse! For the link, click here.

So far, using the same body template I've made an owl, cat and a dog, what next?, any ideas??

Bella, in black & white

This project has been fun to do, it all started last week as a swap suggestion. The cat in question is black and white and called Bella. I had no fabric suitable in my stash so hot footed it down to the local charity shops, always my first port of call in these circumstances. Found the perfect material in the form of a blouse which I've chopped up, a very successful trip as I also grabbed a bargain pure wool jumper which has already been felted in the washing machine. The body template is the same as used here. The biggest problem I had to solve with Bella, was that she has some white patches. After trying felt, fur, and fleece, it was obvious some lace was going to work better. The lace is actually passed on to me from my lovely mother-in-law, it was used in her wedding dress. This is the first time I have used it, but am now inspired to make something for my niece, wouldn't it be lovely for her to have something made using fabric from her grandma's wedding dress.



Bella has her name embroidered on the back, so she'll never get lost!.



While she is waiting to be sent to her new home, she's just having a little snuggle in the felted jumper to keep her warm!.