This and That.....

Life has been busy. It really seems to have been flying by lately, and I don't seem to have a lot to show for it. I've really only had time to do the everyday stuff which needs doing, so not a huge amount of crafting has been going on.

I made a cushion for a friend. I made a blue/grey one for myself and thought she might like one as her birthday was coming up. I can show it now as she has received it. After making half of it in a colour that I wasn't happy about, I frogged it all and made it this shade, a green/grey. Much better. It's from the Woman's Weekly Vintage patterns which came out in a magazine a while back, but you can get it online from the Woman's Weekly pattern site. They were doing maintenance work on the online site so I'm not sure if you can buy it at the moment.

My hexagons are slowly increasing. I have been trying to fit in a couple here and there when I can. I still haven't started joining them together yet. I've worked out that I need about 900 of these little beauties to make a throw of a reasonable bed size. This equates to approx 90 of each colour that I have. I think I haven't started joining (even though I am very tempted) as I am not sure if I want to add another colour. I quite like the pastel shades I have and wonder if another would be too much. The tones are all the same too, which I don't want to spoil. I am also still undecided as to how I want to join them together. I was thinking needle and thread, rather than hook and yarn. I have been using Vanessa's weave in method for each hexagon (still very much missing her here in blogland), which I am liking very much, but the fact that each hexagon is not being knotted off which I normally do, is making me feel that thread and tighter binding of each hexagon is the better way to go to avoid any un-ravelling. With having such small hexagons, there is not a lot of room for sewing in of ends. I am still really loving this though, and think having really small hexagons will pay off in the long run.

Doing little bits here and there though, is really making my crafty fingers itch. I am on the look out for a project that I can knock up in an evening. The cosy for the mad hatter's watering can is still floating in my head, but I need to put a lot of thought into its making. Something that takes deep thought is not high on my list at the moment. At the end of a long day I want simple, quick and satisfying. I caught a glimpse of a sight this week that set the cogs rolling.......

Mint/Aqua with naturals and beiges. Hummmmm I like that combo. It is stored now for future project making.

Whilst running around like the white rabbit, muttering 'I'm late...........I'm late', I have had brief moments to stop and look at the wonder of nature. I made it my mission to see if I could have flowers in my house all year round this year. That meant, trying to get what I could out of my poor pathetic garden, and buying cheap and cheerful blooms.

My poppies have opened up now, and the giant ones and frilly ones are so pretty. It's just a shame they don't last longer. 

I was on a mission to keep my hydrageas blue this year. My soil turns them pink. The main one hasn't flowered yet, but the tub has got the deepest blue mop heads on it which I count as an achievement with my poor gardening skills.

I have loved that I have managed to have flowers in my house all year so far without breaking the bank. Hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, garden posies......now roses and peonies. I have a peony bush in the garden, which sadly is only offering a few buds (rubbish soil me thinks), but, what buds have opened, have given me blousy delight. In your face brightest pink and yellow, shouting LOOK AT ME.

I got some shop bought ones, which I always look forward to seeing open, as I'm never sure how they will be. I bought some buds that were deepest burgundy. They opened burgundy.....then went pale red......then went peach.......then went the palest yellow when they were in full bloom. GOSH, I've never been so fascinated. Each bloom opened out to about 30cm each. They looked so beautiful but SO fake! I was actually excited to come into the room each morning and see how they had changed. 

 Don't they look lovely here....well they got even bigger and opened out even more. Just completely awesome.

I was talking to a florist once, and asked her what was her secret to having lovely big vases of blooms in her house without it costing a complete fortune. Her answer was this......invest in good fake blooms! I was a bit aghast that a florist would have fake flowers dotted all around her house, but actually it all made sense once she had explained. Sometimes, there is a disappointment when you buy a cheap and cheerful bunch of flowers at the supermarket. They look all lovely wrapped in their paper, but when you get them home and put them in a vase, they look a little thin on the ground. This florist said that if you invest in a few good fake blooms, especially foliage too, then you just use those to bulk out your vase. That way, you get fresh flowers that you can get pleasure from, but you also get a lovely big array to dress a table every time. You do, of course, have to offset the cost of buying the fake blooms, and the real looking fake ones are not the cheapest, but I thought it was actually a nifty idea. So i'm on the look out for good quality fake blooms to mix and match in with cheap real supermarket blooms. 

Well, that's my tip of the week passed on!

I have discovered a chocolate coffee for my lattes when time is short. Oh, such a sucker for packaging, but really rather pleasant.

Right, must dash.....the list today is endless.....

....have a super weekend all.

xxx