SAL “Bag Ladies #11

I seem to be slowing down with SAL stitching . . . but knowing today was a date to show progress did spur me on to fit in a couple of hours.

Last time I was here

and this time

A quick zoom, because it’s not easy to see some of the paler stitches

That’s the fifth cat done, although I still need to go back over him/her with backstitch.  I reckon I’m about half way through this project now.  And will be working on a new bag for next time.

Don’t forget to visit other SAL members, who are working on a variety of projects.

Avis,  Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze,  Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

And we’ll be back on 9th June.

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a fresh coat of paint (or what the husband did)

A long while ago, BIL gave me an old rocking chair that he’d bought at a carboot sale.  Nothing antique, nothing special, just a basic wooden rocking chair.

At the time, the husband just gave the wood a good clean and some TLC, while I quickly made a cushion & cover to protect the seat from cats’ claws.

Anyway . . . sincre repainting the living room walls white, and since a recent trip to ACTION, where the husband bought some “chalk paint” . . . and because we’ve had several rainy days, when it was too wet for the husband to keep busy in the garden . . . I suggested he might like to give the rocking chair a make-over.  And he did lol.

He used several greens, including a lime green, as well as white . . . sanding and giving the wood a somewhat “distressed” look, because I had said I didn’t want it to look brand new or freshly painted. 

I love it! 

And now, I need to rifle through my fabric drawers, to find the perfect fabrics for a brand new seat cover. 

dolls – all shapes & sizes

I had something of an excavation in the attic the other day.  I have to explain that when we moved here in 2014, we also brought with us the belongings of our 3 adult children who had all left home by then, but none of whom had a large enough flat/house to take all their “stuff”.  So “stuff” was simply packed in boxes which now take up a corner of the attic, awaiting the day when adult children decide they have room in their own homes.  Anyway, our daughter has asked for a few of her belongings to be sent over . . . hence me opening boxes and sorting what needs to be sent . . . which also meant climbing the extra flight of stairs to the attic, where I rediscovered these!

These are 30cm Corolle baby dolls, which date back to 1995.  We bought them for our daughter when she was just a tiny toddler . . . and as you can see from the almost pristine condition, she didn’t play with them much!  However, since I am into playing with dolls myself these days, I’ve brought these two dolls down to my sewing room.  I learned, from DOLLS magazine, that Corolle (a famous French doll manufacturer) is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year!  It therefore seems appropriate to have unpacked my daughter’s Corolle baby dolls and have them on display in my sewing room.

Alongside, three very cute “Jellybean” bunnies (also belonged to my daughter) which I found in with the dolls.  I gave the dolls a clean, clothes & bunnies went in the washing machine, and they make me smile, sitting there on the sofa.

Here are the two Corolle baby dolls, next to Noah, my Berengeur doll, just to show scale.

Title of this post mentions all shapes & sizes . . .

After playing with the Corolle dolls, I also opened boxes to rediscover my BJD (ball-jointed doll) collection.  That was something which began in 2007 when my daughter (aged 13 at the time) asked for a BJD for her birthday.  I had no idea what they were way back then, so research was necessary.  When I saw what they were, I wanted one too . . . and 2007 saw the beginning of a BJD collection, which sadly, hasn’t been paid much attention in years.

Anyway, for those of you who find dolls spooky . . . don’t scroll down any farther lol.  For those who are curious . . . here are a few photos of just some of the dolls in my collection.

This is my very first BJD, bought in 2007.  A Soul Kid, by Soul Doll, face is the model Miryu, and she measures 45cm tall.

This one is a 56cm LUTS Juri Delf 06 doll.  She came second hand from ebay.

As did this doll which (I think) is also a LUTS, a Kid Delf (Delf meaning, she has pointy ears) and measuring approx 44cm.

They are just 3 of the seven resin BJDs in my collection.  I also have some plastic BJDs very Manga-like dolls . . .

These are Hujoo dolls . . . that somehow seemed to multiply after buying the first one!

Anyway . . . I can’t believe it’s been so many years since I spent any quality time with these dolls.  I’m still all fired up with my reborn baby dolls, and Daisy, but I also plan on spending some time crafting for my BJD dolls too in the coming months.   When I started collecting dolls, I couldn’t really sew, and I certainly couldn’t crochet or knit.  Now I have mastered crocheting, my little brain is buzzing with ideas of fun outfits that can be made with yarn & a crochet hook.

a second cushion happy dance for May!

After the fun of making the mermaid cushion cover for Cléo . . . I pulled out this little cross stitched piece.

This photo was taken in June of last year.   A cute little robot, kit by Permin.  The kit gave all the necessary fabric to make this into a mobile phone pouch, but I wasn’t too keen on that idea. So, what did I do?  Patchwork around, and another cushion cover, of course!

I had such fun with this, making use of several orphan 5” squares and then cutting into the blue oval print fabric to pull things together.  I’ve made this for my great nephew (not sure if he’s 7 or 8 but I’m sure a cushion will come in handy to brighten up his bedroom). 

And, on the back . . . the same velvety fabric I used for the mermaid, with the same blue button fastening.

I’m now off to pick up my crochet hook, as I’ve promised an amigurumi wolf for my second great nephew! 

can’t take me anywhere!

My husband can’t take me anywhere without me finding crafting goodies to “ooooh & aaaahhh!” over . . . resulting, of course, in me coming home with loads of totally unnecessary crafting supplies to add to my ever growing stash.  The other day, since we were heading into town anyway, I mentioned that I’d like to stop off at ACTION on the way home “Just to buy a couple of plastic storage boxes” for my very healthy stash of DK yarn (which could no longer be contained in the 2 boxes I initially bought). 

I found the boxes I was looking for, bought two, so now my stash of Stylecraft DK is looking very organised.

But of course, my shopping didn’t stop there.  I also grabbed

for future amigurumi projects because those colours inspired me with thoughts of dragons, unicorns and other mythicial creatures, including mermaids. 

Then . . . I spotted these for only 1.59€ each.

Initially thinking I’d have fun making up myself, to gift to little neighbours . . . but then thinking they’ll be easy enough for a child to make, with supervision, and that I will probably gift the unmade kits, which will then keep little hands busy for a few hours.

In my defense, I wasn’t alone in finding goodies to bring home though.  The husband also helped to fill up the basket with a couple of bottles of chalk paint and two wooden “insect hotels” for less than 2.50€ each which have already been installed outside . . . and the husband realising he should have bought a few more lol.  Here’s one in place on the back wall of the garage . . . it will be interesting to see if any insects decide to move in. 

Anyway, we did leave a few things in the shop for other customers and prices in ACTION are always so low, we came home very happy with our crafty bargains.

I do have to add though, that the husband doesn’t even need to take me out for me to find an excuse to add to my stash.  I’ve only recently discovered a new (to me) French on-line store called Buttinette which stocks supplies for literally every craft imaginable.  I spent several evenings having a thorough look through all the different categories . . . and since I then decided to order in a few bits for the husband’s birthday later this month, I just had to buy a couple of their patchwork fabric stash packs, so that I spent enough to get free p&p lol.

Yellows & greens, with flowers and bunny rabbits.

And a pack in blues & pinks with birds, flowers and dandelion seeds.

Please don’t ask what I’m going to make with these, because I have absolutely no idea!  I thought the colours & prints were fun, loved the price of 9.95€ for a pack of 7 coordinating cottons (30cm x 70cm).  I’ll definitely be going back for more goodies on this site.  They stock a wide variety of fabrics for crafting & clothes making,  . . . haberdashery, quilting supplies, crochet & knitting supplies, and so much more! 

happy dancing with mermaid cushion

Back in September of last year, I showed you this

a very pretty mermaid, stitched from a free kit (with Cross Stitch Crazy).  Kit that was gifted to me by Carole.  I said then, that I probably wouldn’t finish her off in the bookmark card, that came with the kit.  And simply put her away in a drawer until a later date.  Well, the later date arrived, finally!  Prompted by a visit from our neighbour’s daughter, Cléo, who enjoyed having a good old rummage in my sewing room . . . found this mermaid waiting to be finished, and exclaimed at how beautiful she was.  It just so happens that it’s Cléo’s birthday in May . . . so what did I do?  Yup, spurred on by Cléo’s praise, I pulled out some strips of fabric to play with, and made a cushion cover for Cléo’s birthday present.

Mermaid looks a little bit hemmed in, top and bottom, because the aida fabric in kit was only just big enough, so very little extra fabric even for 1/4” seams. 

I used the walking foot for quilting, but had a sort of curvey thing going on . . . thought it went quite well with the ocean theme, but it’s totally haphazard.

And on the back

a synthetic, sort of velvety fabric, and fastening with 3 plain blue buttons from MIL’s button box. I made cushion to my usual size: for a 16” insert. 

best layer of the month # April

We’ve had a few weird eggs in the nesting boxes this month.  All laid by Miss Moneypenny:  several funny shapes, a couple with soft shells, and then this

This isn’t an optical illusion due to perspective . . . it’s teeny tiny, hardly bigger than a quail’s egg, and only containing egg white.

Miss Moneypenny seems to be in fine fettle, but I reckon the odd egg-laying must be because she’s starting to get on in years.  Total egg count this month (not counting the soft shells, which were a flattened mess in the nest) was 77 eggs.  Miss Moneypenny’s contribution was 24, or I suppose only 23 and a half, as we can hardly call the above an egg!  Miss Plumpton also laid 24 – all normal sized.  And Mauricette was the winner this month, with 29 eggs.