A few custom orders...

Sharing a few custom orders made over he last few months... some of which I added to my little shelves.

 

'My heart delongs in Georgia' - A Mum whose son moved in Georgia (a little heart was added in place of the city)

 

'Gypsies at heart' in custom colours - Gift for a Mum

 

'I love my bed' cot version - New grandchild

 

'Pesky squirrel' - Woodland themed nursery

 

'Picture perfect' - Vintage camera love

 

Thanksgiving turkey

 

'The next best thing...' - Gift for a Mum & Grandma

 

'Le bain' - Gift for Grand-daughter's Bathroom

 

'Keep it simple' & 'Thanksgiving turkey' - XSmall versions of previous hoops as gifts to friends

 

Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday! Crafting, chilling or maybe making the most of the outdoors?

We had a bit of an 'adventure' yesterday... I love an adventure me (although it got a bit miserable at one point :)
We decided to go climbing to this lovely spot on the moors, a riverside crag in the woods. Once we got there, mother nature decided it wasn't to be, so we went for a walk in the rain instead. Not wanting to leave our climbing kit in the car we took it with us (rather heavy rucksacks!). Four hours later, after scrambling along the river, soaked to our undies, and with achy bodies and one tired dog, we got back to the car with smiles on our faces 'well... that was good training!'. We stopped at the butchers on the way home, got some lovely fillet steak, and spent the evening by the fire with yummy food and drink in our bellies.

Today the sun is shining of course :)

Annabelle x

A spot of sunshine...

Two sunny pillow covers to brighten any grey day...
(also thrifted on my trip to France, hence the square shape - a goldmine it was, I tell ya!)

A little crochet garland...
(wondering if I should attempt a wee tutorial for this garland.
That would be a hoot, a tutorial by a 'that'll do' type rookie crocheter like me, ha! It was really simple mind... in fact so simple it may not even warrant a tutorial.
Let me know if anyone's interested...)

Hope you have a lovely sunny weekend...

Annabelle x

PS: Golly gosh, it looks like my blogging mojo has come back, that's four posts in as many days. Unheard of for me. I'm staying on my guards though, it's a slippery sucker :)

Little things that make me happy: Ze Emmaüs trip

The second exciting part of my little hoppity hop over to France was going to the thrifting goldmines that are Emmaüs shops. I can't think of a better way to spend quality time with my sister.
Luckily I have two sisters who love to do a bit of rummaging as much as I do. They came up trumps when they last caught up in France, and I got truly spoilt.

After all the lovelies they'd found, to say that I was excited to visit those same shops is putting it mildly. Oh I was not disappointed... I flew across with hand luggage and came back with a suitcase full!

 

I got a little mountain worth of fabric, a lot of it forms this happy pile...

 

Some more vintage wallpaper... (Love that label! :)

 

A little vintage dress/tunic... It had binding on all the edges and the pocket (yes it has a pocket! love pockets on dresses!) which I had to unpick. I just need to sew some to replace it before I can wear it.

 

A lovely tin and eggcup... I was on high alert looking for these particular Arcopal eggcups. This wasn't the print I was looking for but they are equally lovely (I found four of them, and found one more in the Scania print which is the one I was scouring for). The lovely vase was a Christmas gift from Patricia, great colour and it goes perfectly well with my teal jug.

 

I also found a few more doilies to add to the 'doily cake'.

Ah the thrill of thrifting! :) There's more too, I need to gather them from around the house and take a few snaps.

Annabelle x

Introducing... my sister

Before Christmas I hopped back over to France to visit one of my sisters. It was a très special visit for I was coming to see the fruit of months of hard work and the start of her new adventure as a furniture designer.
I wasn't disappointed, no way josé, I have one very clever sis!

When we arrived where she was exhibiting at the time, before I got to see her pieces, she got chatting with the owner, and chatting, and chatting... (a right chatterbox, I am positively withdrawn next to her :)
So leaving them to it, I went off to find them and this is what I found... (or at least one of them)

Magnifique, non??
Beautiful craftsmanship, beautiful lines... and my favourite wood, solid oak.

Of course I had seen photos before but there's nothing like seeing them in the flesh (or in the grain :)

Much more of her Collection Florentine to see over on her website.

Sweetness...

The best is when you least expect it...

I had written this year's off in my mind. Shift work, night away, life gets in the way. It's all very commercial anyway...
La di da di da...

I had the biggest smile on my face this morning *smile*

Happy St Valentine to you my lovelies!
(whether you are trying to ignore it, or embracing it!)

Progress...

Back from our little jolly in the Alps.

We had loooooads of fresh snow... You just can't help but giggle going down the slopes in all that powder, priceless. I don't think I've ever been quite this cold before (-20˚C with wind chill apparently) but 'twaz flippin' brilliant. Oh actually there was one duff note, I got food poisoning on the last night. Can you believe it, just before traveling aaaaaah... thankfully I made it home in one piece phew!

Bon, c'est pas tout mais I think it's time to put the kit back up in the loft for another year (snif), and for me to show you what I've been up to the last few months.

There's been quite a few things but this is what I've been the most excited about. At times I have been frustrated by size restrictions, and the time I can spend on a hoop so it doesn't become ridiculously expensive. So I've been playing on canvas mixing embroidery and acrylic.

Meet Betty & Nora. My two lovely grannies and their little companions...

Queenie, my peachy little Scandi hen...

and finally, Bleuet...

There is quite a lot of detailing which is hard to capture on photo but this one helps a little...

(I also really like the back of them.)

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed making these. There will definitely be more to come, combined with layering too. The possibilities are endless. Good stuff! :)

I decided to get some art prints done to make this type of work more accessible (all stacked up on the shelves over here).

That being said, I still love making my little hoops and have made a few new ones, and a few custom made ones, which I shall show you next time so I don't overload you with tons of photos. We wouldn't want that, oh no.

So it's ta ta for now my friends!
(Won't be for long 'cos I've got loads more after my teetotal blogging period.)

Annabelle x