bee handmade

tearsheets continued

More tearsheets, this time they are just random things that have appealed to me (mainly selected because of colour).

plodding along

Handmade was the order of the day for mother's day cards. I was playing around with some scraps of lace and linen (very thrifty) and made two different designs. I wanted to keep them simple and light.

A chicken.

Some trees. The trunks are made of rick rack which I cut in half.

The pile of crochet hexagons is also growing gradually. Bee likes lying on them.

However I'm being distracted by re watching 'Wives and Daughters'. Love it.

I've also been naughty and purchased MORE craft books. This and this. I'm looking for inspiration for a full sized quilt for the bedrooom and would also like to make the kimono dress in the Heather Ross book. I've never made any clothes before (not counting those made for dolls when I was younger!) so am looking forward to experimenting.

tearsheets 2

Bedrooms this time. Dreamy.

the cat's whiskers

Is having a few days off work so being able to make time to do some crafting. First up a Lotta Jansdotter door stop from this book.

Bee was desperate to get in on the photography action. The door stop is fashioned out of Ikea fabric and feels nice and substantial. I used a large quantity of rice to fill it!

Next up some crochet corsages. Two made out of cotton and one of embroidery thread. The larger ones remind me of succulent plants.

I also did some decluttering and found a handkerchief that I edged when I was young. It was my first crochet project, taught by my grandmother. I'd forgotten all about it. Not just make do and mend but make do and enhance!

Time off also allows a different kind of lunch. Exit the canteen or packed lunch standards and enter a modest chorizo omlette. Nothing fancy, just makes a change.

Oh and not forgetting more indulgent pastries for breakfast.

The sun has been shining and the promise of spring is filling the air, which reminds me that I really need to finish this w.i.p.. The sunshine and lighter nights are also making me hanker after spring clothing. I've been spending too much time browsing here, here and here. The toast catalogue is beautiful, as many, many people have already mentioned! It also reminds me of my honeymoon in Greece. Happy days.

I really love this dress. If only it came in a different colour. My colouring can't cope with fuchia pink.

 

The final cat's whiskers is the fact that Bee's are curly!

tearsheets

Lobster and Swan has a fab way of making sense of her tearsheets.  I hope she doesn't mind me following suit. I've been tearing bits and pieces that appeal to me from magazines for years.  They are all kept in a jumbled stack in a large wicker box. They will be much easier to browse through online. Some are just colour references, some styles I like, some specific pieces of furniture, lots are storage (an obsession of mine). Just anything that grabs my interest or that I'd like to remember for future reference when I've won the lottery! Unfortunately I haven't kept a record of where they are all from but most are Country Living, Easy Living or Red Magazine.

Here are the kitchen ones.  I'll put some others up soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm now going to step away from the computer. I get grumpy when I've been on it too long. I get into searching, browzing frenzies.

breakfasts

I had one of my favourite breakfasts this morning.

Pain au chocolat. Mmmm.

The table cloth is a hand embroidered one I inherited from my grandmother (it needs an iron but I hate ironing).

Top 5 breakfasts (in no particular order):

1. pain au chocolat (or croissants)
2. american pancakes with bacon or pancetta and maple syrup
3. eggs benedict
4. Rachel's organic coconut yoghurt with homemade granola
5. peanut butter on toast

beautiful film

I get really drawn into the world created in a beautiful film. I remember going to see Amelie and emerging from the cinema feeling slightly disconcerted and disappointed that I wasn't in Montmartre. I waxed lyrical about wine glasses and bathroom tiles that my friends hadn't even noticed. I then became intent upon tracking down said glasses (eventually found by a friend on a French road trip).

Sorry about the poor light.  It's evening (as you can see a glass of wine is ready). I've also just noticed that the wine and green glass stems coordinate with the crochet tea cozy you can see on the top left!  Serendipity.

Here are a few of my cinematography favourites.

In my purely personal opinion Marie Antoinette isn't a great film but I really love the colours and set design. It's as if the whole world is made of these.

A world of ice cream colours, macaroons, satin and frippery. In contrast the colours in The Piano remind me of Northumbrian beaches - slate grays and blues, misty greens. Raise the Red Lantern conjoures a haunting atmosphere and, in my mind, marries the bleak shades of The Piano with the opulent colours of Amelie. I couldn't resist bringing my own red lantern back from a trip to Hong Kong.

What are your favourite visually beautiful films?

a little crochet

I've been working on lots of little things lately. After finishing the baby quilt I didn't want to jump right into another 'commitment project'.

I rediscovered my Crochet Inspiration book the other day and made a couple of flowers.

Crochet pansy in Rowan Kidsilk Haze and ruffle flower in Debbie Bliss cotton

I prefer the way the pansy tuned out.  The ruffle may have been more successful if I'd used a softer yarn.

I've also spent the weekend working on a bit reorganisation of my crafting clutter, transferring everything from extremely over filled Muji drawers to a new Ikea Expedit unit. It was very cathartic. I can actually see what I own now and don't have to tip whole drawers of stuff out to find one thing. As I'm sure I've said before I LOVE tidying. P thinks it's an obsession but I prefer to think of it as endearing quirk!

One of my discoveries was some vintage thread that used to belong to my grandmother.

Why don't spools of thread look as appealing now? I much prefer the graphic design and more homely feel of older packaging. I'm one of those kinds of people who are horrified if the design of Marmite jars changes! As William Morris said “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. I strive to achieve this goal but unfortunately have to fight a tendency to accumulate and hoard. Onwards and upwards though :-)