Thursday, 31 December 2015

Happy New Year and Farewell.........











It's time to say a HUGE goodbye to you all.

A little sad not to be posting anymore, but I know it is the right decision.

I just wanted to once again say a 

heart felt thank you 

to you all. It has been such a lovely space to have here and I have so enjoyed you following my creative journey. You have all been so awesome. Encouraging me and making me feel that this passion of mine is worthwhile.

My journey shall continue on Flickr and Ravelry and it will be lovely to see some of you on there.

This little space here will stay live and you can always contact me should you have any crafty questions. I'll still be reading blogs and commenting so it's not a complete goodbye.

So......the VERY VERY best to you all for 2016. May you be blessed, be creative, and see the beauty in the everyday.

Much love to you all

Vanessa

xxx

edited to add: You don't have to have a Flickr account to view any photos I post on there. Just click on the Flickr ball in the sidebar and it will link you to my Flickr Feed.

Wednesday, 23 December 2015

Some Things I love........









....Having my first hot drink of the morning, sitting in front of a twinkly Christmas tree when the rest of the house are still dreaming their dreams.

....The scent of cinnamon and cloves that fill the air when I walk in the house.

....A good hand cream

....Hot water bottles.

....Santa mugs

....My new snuggly duvet that doesn't want to see me get out of bed for days.

....Twinkle lights, that make me believe in magic.

....The smell of a hot flannel on the face.

....Freshly baked cookies.

....A new yarn ball to play with.

....Green Bic pens.

....Snuggles with the Bears, watching a movie

....A clean kitchen

....A really hot latte

....Layers..to wear, and on my bed

....Plump cushions

....Writing lists

....Jumping over puddles

....Listening to wind and rain

....Feeling excited by a new crafty project

....Discovering a pretty new Christmas tree decoration.

....Coffee and a good book in bed

....Red and white gingham

....Homemade blankets

....Wristwarmers

....An appointment free day

....Tunnocks tea cakes

....Red Pillar boxes

....Snow Globes

....Walking in Fog

....My iTunes Playlist

....Cosy Slippers

....Darning in the last end of a blanket

....Reading heartwarming news

....Daydreaming

....Waking up to the sound of birdsong on my alarm clock. It always puts me in a good mood.

....Sparkly nail polish

....finding something I like in the perfect shade of pink.

....Pressed glass. I'm a sucker for it.






Some of my favourite things.

What are your favourite things?

xxx

Friday, 18 December 2015

Favourites.....




Looking back at bloggy statistics, I thought I'd just share my most popular posts of all time here on this post.

It's no surprise, this being a crafty crochet blog, that they are all crochet makes......


in 1st place:


in 2nd place:


in 3rd place:


in 4th place:


in 5th place:


The Evening Sun Blanket and the Serendipity Blanket are my two top favourite blankets I have made to date. Alicia Paulson's Sunshine Day Blanket makes up my top three I think.



















The scarves inspired by a post on Vanessa Cabban's beautiful blog (sigh, still miss her so terribly in the crafty community) are my favourites too. They never fail to bring me colour joy when I wear them.





The waffle post, really was a waffle post, but full of my most recent makes. I had been a busy bee Blanket making and the baby blankets were a dream to make (so much so, adult blankets were made soon after). The pom pom edge blanket is a faithful friend to me. Bright and happy, I love it in the summer. The Rosy Posy blanket was a mammoth job! It was huge, but it was fun to do. It was made to be kept in the car for picnic and seaside trips and just general car snuggling on long trips.








The hot water bottle cover tutorial, is always a big hit some Christmas time. You all know me by now. I don't do tutorials, simply because I am so pants at them, but so many asked for one, and I did a general one to cover all sizes of hot water bottles, and it seemed to be a hit. I have it bookmarked, as I need to make some more for myself. My other covers are looking sorry for themselves as they have been so well used.





So, there we go.

Your favourite posts.

I just thought it was nice to share with you what you have liked the most since I have been blogging.


xxx



Monday, 14 December 2015

Privileged.....


















 I was driving very early this morning. It wasn't a usual thing for me to do, and the morning still felt like it hadn't quite risen from its slumber.

I have been listening all week to Ludovico Einaudi's 'Elements' album. I ADORE strings and Piano and I was playing 'Night' in the car. It seemed so fitting of the surroundings at that very moment.

Do you ever get it, when all things come together to reach one point; that you know is a significant moment to you? I'm not really so sure I can eloquently express this very well, as it's more a feeling than any spoken word can describe.

Anyway, driving through the countryside still so sleepy, with a hint of the sunrise....it felt quite ethereal. But mostly, I just felt this overwhelming surge of utter privilege. To have all my senses upon me. To be able to witness the sunrise and the sunset. To be able to feel the chill on my hands, and the sun on my face. To have the love stare back at me though my children's eyes. To breathe the morning air, sit quietly on a bench and watch the world go by, jump and sing like a loon in my house, run on a beach, cry at a sad film, watch deer jump through fields. I just felt what an awesome gift to have.







I think I have been thinking a lot this past week of people in my life who have passed. I miss them, and I miss that they don't get to see these moments that I see and feel. We forget sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life, just what we have, just how spectacular it all is.....and just what a privilege it is.


xxx

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

Busy....Busy.....Busy...





Never fear.... I did say I'd get a couple of posts in before I finished blogging at the end of the year!


Oh My Word.  December always seems to be the quickest month of the year. You reach the first and you're all like 'yeah, yeah, I still have plenty of time'.....then in a blink of an eye, it's the middle of the month, and you start to panic. You don't know where a couple of weeks have gone and you suddenly realise you still have A LOT to do. This month has been MANIC. Manic I tell you. I feel like my head is somewhere and my body is somewhere else. In between school stuff, work and housework, I have been trying to get some Christmas cheer in. I made a homemade advent Calendar. Now, I know I am not alone in making use of the Bon Maman jars when all the rich sugary jam has been used, but did you know Bon Maman did a cook book? In honesty, it's not really a cook book for me. Jam is used on toast, crumpets and dolloped right in the middle of porridge or rice pudding....and that's about all I want it for. However, The clever Bon Maman lot realise that us crafters find uses for these nifty jars; and at the back of the cook book have put some ideas down. I like the idea of using them for hyacinths. Anyone following me for some time, will know my love for hyacinths, and this is one time of year when I am able to indulge in it. Funnily enough though, all my hyacinths at the moment have come in three's so it's been a tad difficult to shove those in a jar. Never mind I have a few jars at the ready for when I do. Anyway, I digress, They also had a rather nifty idea making use of the mini Bon Maman jars. I ADORE these cute little jars, and they are perfect for storing teeny tiny things. There was a lovely little crafty idea for using the mini jars to make an advent calendar. All in whites and reds, well that took my fancy. 









Had it all been left to me, it would have been a straight cardboard box made to house them in, but someone made me a rather lovely big box to place them in. Festive string and a bit of holly and voila. Filled with Hershey Kisses, but I was thinking, that throughout next year, I will buy little trinkets and bits like cheap ear studs, etc to fill in some of the jars. A little bit of a festive treat for mum when she is battling the busiest month of the year! I thought it would be a lovely thing to make and fill for a daughter. I'm not so sure that it would work with boys so much as you need really little things to fit in the jars. Little hair clips, stickers, accessories, etc are so much easier. I thought perhaps though for boys, that lego bits might work. Perhaps a little lego set that you divide up into the jars and at the end you get the instructions to build something. I don't know, but I do know that I shall enjoy the little chocolate treats for myself this year and will very much enjoy the other little treats next year! ha ha!









Okay, back to the hyacinths. Gosh I am loving having these beauties in the house. I have found lots of pots to put them in, and a trip to the Garden Centre saw me pad everything out with moss. 










I have seed lights everywhere too at the moment. Such cute little lights. I'm not sure I can bear to put them away after Christmas. These may stay out all year round all over the place.

All the decs have been brought out and I am having a dilemma as to what my winter mantel will be this year. Too many Christmas knick knacks and not enough display space. Typical of me and it really should tell me something.






















The gingerbread house has been done. Cheating slightly with a shop bought one...which is even more unforgivable since I have recently purchased a gingerbread book, but speed was of the essence here, and I don't ever confess to being some superhuman woman. Errrrr no. Buy it if it helps is my motto.








Baby Bear LOVED decorating it. I do love making Christmas stuff with the Bears. The elder Bears are not so keen now, but Baby Bear still loves it.





I found this little lady in a shop. She seems too good to put on the tree. She reminded me of Vanessa Cabban and her beautifully talented sculptures she did. I still miss her terribly here in blogland, and I thought this cutie seemed a fitting reminder of her. I might even make her an apron as a fitting homage to Vanessa. I think she shall be kept year round on my bedside table.



Another thing that has been so much fun, was something I saw on good old pinterest and I knew I had to try it.....








Yes, just look at those. Gorgeous brightly coloured mini pom poms already to make.......





these!

Gosh, I can't tell you how much fun we had with these. My intention was to go out foraging for pine cones in our local Forest, but I walked into Hobbycraft and this gorgeous Christmas scent hit me. There were bags and bags of pine cones for sale that were cinnamon scented. The smell was intoxicating and I knew straight away that these would be perfect to put the pom poms on. Boy, were they steeped in cinnamon oil! My car STANK on the way home! All Christmassy though, so I can't complain, but hung on the Christmas tree  they look awesome. I found another bag of smaller cinnamon scented ones from another shop too, so I think I may just have pom pom cone overload, but at least the house will smells nice!











Actually, the house smells really christmassy. The tree smells lovely, and so do the pine cones on it. I usually have a pan on the hob simmering with cloves, oranges and cinnamon when I am in the kitchen. I have figgy pudding candles in the living room along with figgy pudding diffusers (which smell like cookie dough) dotted throughout the house. Really rather yummy. Some of the Hyacinths have come out and the scent is wafting from those. Bliss really.






This morning, Michael Bublé is singing his Christmassy dulcet tones whilst the lights twinkle and I think about getting my bum into gear to wrap a little after the chores are done.
























So, December is in full swing. I am trying to enjoy the rare moments of calm. It's been so much fun making stuff. I have brown clay and brown paper to make gingerbread tree decs this year. I hope I will have time. I am enjoying the scented candles, the twinkly lights and the the cosy evenings. I cannot wait for the hyacinths to burst open and fill the air with their gorgeous scent (before it turns all pungent and rather niffy!), and I just remembered I need to bring in my potted geraniums whilst they are still blooming outside. Wow, it's been so mild. I did the school walk this morning in just a light shirt and poncho. Really? In December? Weird weather. I'm usually trussed up in winter coat, scarf, gloves and all manner of thermals.

I am loving this December, which is unusual for me. I feel festive and happy, and I'm really looking forward to the new year and the crafty exploits I have in mind. Crochet is way down on the list of things at the moment, but I am itching to get my teeth into something substantial. I know once January comes and all is back to its usual pace, then I can really go to town on all my plans for yarny goodness. I have been eyeing up some new yarn I want to try and colourways, and that's rather exciting.

I have Big Bear's Birthday just before Christmas. He is rather excited....and keeps hugging me! I don't know if this display of affection is his way of trying to sneak in a few more pressies, but his excitement coupled with Baby Bear's Christmassy enthusiasm is making the house quite a lively one.

Cheesy Christmas movies are on a lot. They are truly AWFUL, but very Christmassy. Big Bear and I usually snuggle and watch one after School. It's a lot of fun as we seem to laugh a lot at the hammy-ness of them and predict the acting. Oh little things.......











Before I go, I also wanted to say a huge and heartfelt thank you for all your comments and your private emails on my previous post. Forgive me for not replying to each and everyone of your comments on the post, but they were all read, and I felt very humbled that you took the time to do so.

Although sad to be saying goodbye to this space here at the end of the month, I won't be completely gone, and it's been so lovely of many of you to find me over on Flickr, Ravelry and Pinterest. Some of you have asked me to confirm my user names on these sites. I am Stripey Mooka on Flickr and Pinterest and stripey-mooka on Ravelry. And, like I said, I shall still be around commenting on other blogs and posts, and I'm still contactable should you have any queries on any makes I've made and posted about (or you just want to say 'hi'). Just email me through my email link or comment on any  posts and I shall get back to you. So, It's not REALLY a complete goodbye is it?




xxx




Tuesday, 1 December 2015

The Decision To Say Goodbye.......















To be honest......I'm not really sure how I feel about writing this post. All kinds of emotions. Blogging has been a part of me for a fair few years now. In the past I have had my bloggy wobbles, wondering what on earth I am doing here, blabbering in a little corner of the internet. I'm a quiet, and incredibly shy person, and the wobbles usually come when I'm going through a period of deep thought. If it passes and I think of it less, then I seem to be fine to waffle away and chat about my ordinary little life and makes.

Over the past six months or so, the feeling of reflection has stayed with me, and there has been this constant battle in my head about whether it is time to say goodbye to my little space here. It was about whether I felt I had anything to say, or worth showing/recording. I kept waiting for the moment to pass, so as not to make any decisions I would regret, but it hasn't really.

I started this blog at a point in my life where I realised that I didn't know.....remember.....who I was. I had slipped into so many other roles, that there was nothing I did that was just for me, or that was a reflection of just me.

I stumbled upon the world of blogging by chance one day, and suddenly became aware of lots of other people who were in the same position as me (mums to young children, who had a passion for craftiness). It opened up a whole new world to me. As I read posts of tales of parenting, crafty exploits and inspiration abound, I knew that this was something that would almost 'save' me.

And I guess it did. I became part of a community that had just as much passion for making and creating as I did. I could be totally me, yet be at a distance that helped with my shyness.

In the early years, my little old space here grew, and I began to realise that I was quite uncomfortable with being 'noticed'. Although flattered to be asked, the thought of book deals, magazine spreads and promoting myself, absolutely horrified me. To someone who has spent her life doing everything to be invisible, stuff like this didn't make my heart beat with excitement like it would to others. I battled with people telling me I was stupid for not seizing opportunities or jumping out of my comfort zone. So I tentatively tried with small things.....and I HATED it. So I retreated from my blog. If I wasn't on it, then people wouldn't ask me to do stuff.

Instagram, was little known at the time and I started to be on my blog less to run away from it all, but use that instead to channel any creativeness. When I realised Instagram was becoming more successful than blogging to bloggers, my natural instinct was to go back to blogging, where there would be less people reading what I had to say.

I always thought that returning 'full time' back to blogging, I would be quite clear in what I wanted with my space. I didn't want it to 'grow'. I just wanted to record stuff for myself. I love taking pictures, and am a very visual person, so any little pockets of 'happy' in my house or day I wanted to capture. Believe me, when you're a girly girl living with messy males, you feel like you want to record pretty and girly; so when you look back over the years, you are reminded that it wasn't all used socks all over the house, wrappers stuffed down the sides of beds and food plates left here, there and everywhere. I would lay my life down without question for my Bears, but by gum, their mess knows no bounds!

So that's what I wanted from this little space. Being a people pleaser, I feld kinda selfish saying 'no' to this that and the other, but it got a little easier. I guess, over the last few months I have been wondering if I really need this space to speak. I'm not really sure what I have to say is at all interesting, and if I'm honest, really honest, to look back at these posts in years to come, I won't be reading the posts, I'll only be looking at the pictures and remembering. I love to take photos, but I have Flickr to record those. I love making stuff, but I have Ravelry to record those. So I guess I have been asking myself for the last 6 months, 'Do I need this space here?'

Blogging has changed over the last few years. I was going through my blog roll, and so many blogs have been abandoned in favour of Instagram now. And even the bloggers left, post less frequently.

Don't get me wrong. I think Blogging still has a valuable place in crafty society.....it's just I feel that it's time for me to retreat into invisibility again.

So, I have made the decision to blog for the next couple of weeks in the the run up until Christmas, with anything crafty that I can muster. I shall then have a couple of weeks enjoying Christmas with the Bears, and end my blog at the end of this year.

Don't worry, My blog will remain here in cyber space. I shan't be taking it down. I shall still be taking as many pics as I always have done, I'll just be recording them on Flickr instead. If I make anything crochet (or you never know....knitty) related, I'll record it up on my Ravelry page. Any questions, I'll still be contactable, so if any help is needed with any aspect of stuff I have made in the past, then I will always try and help. I'll still be reading blogs, and if I haven't forgotten my login details, I'll try and still comment on blogs when I can. I'll also still be as mad as a hatter on Pinterest too. I've never said 'never' to going back on Instagram, so you never know know, one day it might appeal again. But for now, invisibility appeals more.

I just wanted to explain my decision. I know there are many readers of this little space here who have followed my journey from the very beginning. I am so thankful to each and everyone of you, for thinking my posts worthy of taking a few minutes out of your precious time to read. I hope maybe something I have posted along the years has been of some inspiration in some way. Thank you also, to all of you who have left comments. Again, I am only too well aware of how precious time is these days, so to not only read here, but take the time to say 'hi' and chat for a bit......well.....it has always overwhelmed me really.


Thank you x



xxx