our first joint stall!

Well, what an eventful weekend - so busy! And straight back into routine again (and present making), with hardly any time for blog posts! But here are my photos of our stall, before i pick up my sewing and carry on gifting/making...

last minute making

I made this blue sea teacosy after work on Monday night before dinner.  I have also been stuffing the pile of tree decorations during my teabreaks at work. Got mince pies and jam tarts to make tonight for the ladies at my stitching group at work; its our last stitching meeting before the holidays on Thursday night and we are all bringing something tasty to have while we work on our craft projects; I will hopefully be finishing off some of those decorations for the fair. So, see you on Friday Jo-Bags for some even more last min making! xxx

Cool Wreath Idea

Look here for this wreath tutorial from Our Best Bites:

Cool huh?? And you could make it even more Christmassy by using just red and white material and adding a few felt holly bits.....

Christine's Christmas Bunting

 This is some of the bunting Christine (my partners Mum for those who don't know) handmade to sell at the stall next weekend. Isn't it amazing?! There are some strings with large flags and some with smaller ones (the teddies are holding the smaller ones).

The stall will be at the Fowlmere Village Hall Famers Market on Saturday 11th Dec for those who want to know. Its a little village between Cambridge and Royston; come along if you are local! 

Oh and the photos are taken by Mum; thanks Mum for unpacking the parcels and displaying the bunting, and thanks to Ted MacDougal and Bunny too!

it doesn't always work

My hessian pot covers still aren't hemmed.

I was making peppermint bark last night and my ganache irreversably split.I started a wreath with lovely red twigs but haven't tied in all the ends yet.

At least i finished my christmas cards and am pleased with them.

Now i just have to write and post them. How much is 50 stamps? *cringe*

Stuffing Arrived

So the stuffing arrived in the post and I could finally stuff the Christmas decorations, now I just need to make loads more:

There was also another thing: 

And this is how my arts book stall looked: 

Grey Massam Felt teacosies are on my to-do list this weekend; if I can reach the heater from the high shelf in my studio; a cold studio is not conducive to felting!

this is what you meant, right?

find it here.

nature-inspired decorations

love these wreaths, don't you? they're by emily thompson, found on design*sponge blog. i never thought about making anything like that for the stall! oh well, there's always next year!

i thought selvedge had some pegs at the last stall we were at...found them on their drygoods site. go to entire range, then east of india haberdashery and scroll down!
i think they're mini ones!
i also found these amazing stamps by norajane on etsy:check them out here! i LOVE the pine cone one...and the acorn one...and the hedgehog!

doing lots of internet research; unfortunately i'm back in bed, turns out i wasn't really feeling better after all. doctor is tomorrow. doing this and that when i have the energy...and buying beads on ebay!
was going to come down to see you at your book fair, but i checked train prices and it seems they have gone up :( rubbish :(
xxx

Starting to feel a lot like...

busy week indeed! although mine was more busy with recovering and housework, than crafts. thanks for the photos of the fair, so inspirational and nice to know were doing things on trend.
love the coat, i've been looking for a wool one in a similar shape. saturday i visited about 10 charity shops, but no luck this time.
LOVE, love, love the tree and heart decorations, very pretty fabric :) well done!
great peg idea, have you seen where we can buy mini pegs?

and since i am loving making pot holders, here are some from previous Rowan magazines in my stash:
but if i were to knit some, i think id have a chunky yarn, and a large cable design going around the pot. in the new year maybe.
will be sending you the hessian pot holders to embellish next week!

What a busy week its been!

Ok so first things first; the coat. Won it on ebay; its a Whistles coat, not new but not in bad condition.A proper winter coat, thick, heavy and big!

Secondly; the Country Living's Christmas Fair. Went to the gala evening and took some photos for inspiration: 

Lots of bunting around, lots of wreaths, and lots and lots and lots of hearts!

 Felt shapes on mini pegs; would be good to make some for displaying Christmas cards...?

And thirdly; my own decorations! I've been hand stitching little xmas trees for the last week or so, leaving the bottoms open ready for stuffing and the final sew up. Not bought any stuffing yet; ran out last week. 

The wreath is from the fair, as is the holly apron that everything is resting on. The Scandinavian looking fabric was from the fair too, in a scrap bin; bargain.  

Dinner Party Prep

 Kantha table decoration inspired by you Jo.

To-Do list with times - planning for the cooking day ahead just like Mamu does; although I need to start a book for this; with notes of how it went afterwards and things to do differently. . . . must have a homemade notebook around here somewhere . . . 

The whole table will be colour coordinated!

Basketry of Today

Saw this and thought of you and your basket weaving.

This set of three vessels by Virginia Kaiser is my favourite:

And these by Wendy Golden reminds me of that little raffia figure you made me years ago; remember?

Abi xxx

how does it look?

so i can keep the band of stitching as a simple decoration or continue stitching to cover them. constructive criticism welcomed!
as for now, i will carry on stitching...

Tarnished Silver Plated Cutlery & The Pear and Almond Cake

So who knows how to get rid of tarnish on my lovely cake forks in a clean non-chemical way?

I found this suggestion here; does this work? I have no idea if my forks are epns; does this make a difference?  All I know is they are silver plated something!

 And so to the cake! I adapted Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe here; I found the cooking times to be totally off for my oven at least, I had to add on an extra 30 or 40 mins! I used normal flour rather than wholemeal and I think next time I will cut down on the butter too, it tastes far too buttery, totally unnecessary for this cake. And where he says 'add all the juices from the pan on top of the cake' I would say just dribble a tablespoon's worth and no more! This is why it took so so long to cook I think. . . too much juice. Anyway, the result was tasty so thats all that matters.

Mood Board with Nature

mood board - great colours that are about now.

by the way, check out this

ribbons and threads

the heather pinks are less pink and more um....heathery than the photo! bit darker than they look on a pc screen. i'll upload a finished pot holder later on, if the light lasts long enough!

heart uses

you could string through them to make a garland like this but better!

p.s in town i saw xmas decorations - all hearts in red and natural, some wooden some sewn fabric either single (like your stuffed hearts) or 3 hanging below each other on a string. also i have 2 little antique bells if you wanted to put them on the bottom of a decoration? would look good with gingam.
please send me photos of the ribbon you got, ill post mine in a sec
jo xxx

Handmade Hearts

What you think>?

Enamel Pan Love

This is the cutest little enamel pan i've ever seen!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54267149/dansk-kobenstyle-ihq-yellow-enamel-sauce