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




33 comments:

  1. Dear Vanessa, this post is exactly why I think (selfishly) you cant give up blogging! On a very grey day here in Berlin I pop over to your beautiful space and loss myself in you stunning photos. The silence of my home is only interrupted by my Ohhhhs & Ahhhhs as I inhale your words & adore your photos, marveling at your creative ideas. I couldn't help giggle at Mr Kellogg's Santa.... I'm soOoOo a sucker for sweet packaging as-well! I will miss your words & photos they have been my soul-food during my last few topsy-turvy years. I get everything you have said in your last post and I FULLY respect your choice to say goodbye, but that would stop me from TERRIBLY MISSING YOU on here!!!
    Love
    Anna xx

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    1. Awe thank you Anna for your kind words. I know......I'm SUCH a sucker too for pretty packaging, and Mr Kellogg's cheery vintage Santa just had me popping him in my trolly. I may just have to keep it after the cereal has gone! They get me every time. Well, I hope the grey day lifts and I'm sending you some sunshine over. It's a beautiful morning here which is wonderfully uplifting.

      I didn't want to just finish with a goodbye post and that be that, I just wanted to tell of my feelings and plans before I said goodbye. I wanted to finish on a high note and not a somber one!Thank you so much for visiting me here Anna xxx

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  3. Oh Vanessa, I am s-o going to miss you and posts like this! Now I want to run out and buy every tiny jam jar I can find! lol (I did make a pair of salt and pepper shakers out of a pair once) who can resist those jars?! LOVE your display of those lights around the hyacinths, just perfect! I seem to have those tiny lights everywhere this year (I have a trio of white lanterns I padded the bottom with batting and added a fairy ornament in each along with some snowflakes and the lights, they are definitely staying out year round (minus the snowflakes of course). They light up by timer each evening and spread cheer to a dark corner of my kitchen (on a vintage 50's green serving cart). The gingerbread house is lovely too. My girls and I made some faux ones years ago out of birdhouses, they are brought out every year (and I didn't have to make fresh). In fact, they are on my Flickr stream right now if you care for a peek (angela8626) https://www.flickr.com/photos/craftygal/23363843801/in/dateposted-public/
    Have a wonderful Christmas!

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    1. Hi Angela,

      I bought all those tiny jars at the very beginning of the year when I saw them in my local store. I just had to wait all year to get it up and running!

      I am infatuated with the seed lights at the moment! I think my house will be twinkly all year round! The Bear's love them also, so that's a bit of a blessing! ha ha!

      I LOVE your faux gingerbread house....such a cool idea. I might have to nab that! I was thinking of making some out of clay and then making some dome or snow globe thingys out of them! Not quite sure yet, but the thoughts are rumbling around in the mess of a jumble I call my brain!!!! x

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  4. Your blog is just so fantastic
    I love everything
    I love every Picture
    Just so so so Nice
    have a nice day and thank you !

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  5. Oh! I love your decorations!!! So inspiring and cozy! Enjoy this precious time!

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  6. Your home is looking beautiful as always. I really do love fairy lights, they create such a pleasant atmosphere.
    I spotted those pine cones and the smell was just too strong, then again there was a whole crate full of them, I may just have to venture back in to buy myself a bag or two x x x

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    1. Thank Gem, The smell of the cones dissipates once they are in the house, but I do keep getting lovely wafts of cinnamon as I pass the tree which is heavenly! x

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  7. Hi Vanessa

    I'm so sorry you've decided to say good bye. I will miss your lovely, colourful blog and all the craft inspiration. When ever I'm in need of a colour fix I just come over here, and feel straight away happy and inspired. Yet I do think I understand where you're coming from. I too treasure my privacy and have at times found it difficult to juggle blogging and private life. I've also tried to quit blogging a couple times, though not very successfully. So very selfishly I do hope you won't succeed either and will return to this delightful space (I'm not on Revelry, Pinterest or Flickr.)

    As for hyacinths, they are my favourites too. Can't get enough of them this time of year. Such a lovely promise of spring to come (which I always long for). Love your little Bon Maman jam jars calendar too.

    Have a happy!

    Mia

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    1. Hi Mia,

      I always tried to think of this blog as just being for me, and not to do it to try and please others. I realised that I have NEVER re-read any of my posts. It's almost like hearing your voice played back. It never sounds like you and it's always a bit cringy! I just suddenly thought, 'so why am I doing this?'. I thought if I still had a place to take pictures and record my creative makes, then it sort of felt like this was a redundant space. I feel like I just need to become invisible again. Whilst, at the place that I am, I think saying goodbye would be a permanent thing, maybe you never know, years down the line if blogging was still here, I would feel like popping by and saying hello. Never say never, but not for the forseeable future x

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  8. Hyacinths are now being added to my shopping list:)

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    1. They are smelling divine at the moment and look so pretty too x

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  9. Such a lovely post. I'm struggling with Christmas this year but reading this post has made me smile although tinged with sadness with you not blogging anymore. Yours is the only blog I read nowadays and with you deciding to make December your last blogging month actually makes it my last blog reading month! (does that even make sense ?!). Just want to say a massive THANK YOU for writing this blog, It's made me smile, pushed me into crochet gear, brought tears to my eyes. I've enjoyed drinking my morning tea with you, you have been such good company. Thank you

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    1. Awe I'm sorry Elena! Thank you so much for your lovely comments. My blog will still be up and live, and always post a comment if you fancy ever saying 'hi'! x

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  10. Happy to hear you are enjoying december! So many pretty and festive photos! That adventcalendar is so cute! Me and a friend of mine make adventcalendars for each other every year with small gifts. It has become a tradition by now I guess...I Think we have been making them for at least 10 years....and its really fun.Its fun to get a little gift every day but maybe its even more fun to wrap all the (often) small gifts in differet christmas giftwraps/papers!
    And of course I make one for my daughter too! Like you say I Think it may be easier to make it for a little girl but like you wrote, a calendar with lego would be a great idea for a little boy. I try to get little things over the year but this year I was out and about in " tha last second" trying to fing something.....
    Those pinecones look vey Bright and cheery! The smell of hyacinths lingers in the air at our house too. Love it! Hope you are having a great day! / Jeanette

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    1. Hi Jeanette,

      I love the idea of making a gifts calendar for a friend. What a lovely tradition to have. I am LOVING the scent of hyacinth at the moment, and they kinda fell quite festive too! x

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  11. Your advent calendar is wonderful!! Now, don't think that this is creepy, but I remember that earlier in the year you said that you had a plan for all the little jars that you showed in one post, I remembered that recently and thought, I wonder if she ever did anything with those jars! So it is great to see what you did!! I love the little pom poms in the pinecones too! xx

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    1. Ha ha...you remembered! I've had these blinkin things staring at me in the cupboard for almost a year waiting to turn into a calendar!!!!! The pom poms were so much fun and they look awesome on the tree. I feel a great need for pom poms in my life! x

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  12. Oh I never get time to comment but I just have to this time. I know you have made your decision but I'd love to ask you not to stop. You and Attic24 were the 1st blogs I ever found and the only ones that I still go to. Yours is the only one I'm subscribed to. You and Lucy were the ones who inspired me to learn to crochet 4 and a half years ago when my little boy was just 6 months old. I love your style. Your ramblings about every day life. You inspire me all the time whether with craft or home decorating (I absolutely adore your home photos) or cooking. I know you've decided to stop but I will really miss you. I always look forward to seeing you in my email inbox, there is something warm and comforting about looking at your beautiful photos and reading your lovely words. I'm secretly hoping that you will miss it next year, even if you posted once a season I would love that.

    Take care of yourself and be true to you.

    Helen x

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    1. Thank you so much for your comments Helen.I just feel like I am a very repetitive here in blog land. I have less time on my hands these days and I just didn't feel like my words really were worth anything. I knew that if I was honest with myself, when looking back at my blog here, I'd be skipping over my written word and just reminding myself through my pictures. Ever since my blog has been up, there has been a battle raging in my head with my need for privacy and invisibility, and my love of connecting with the crafting community. I guess the need for invisibility is winning at the moment. I thought that if I just took a really long break, then blogging (changing so much as it is) would not really be here, if and when, I decided to return. So it seemed like the obvious solution just to say a final goodbye really. Who knows, Maybe I'll feel the need to come out of hybernation and say hello one day again, but for now, I think invisibility on here is just what the doctor ordered! x

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  13. Sorry mate, but you leave me no option!! I will need to email you every week!!
    Nah! You're alright, I'm not totally nuts, but I will miss your posts. I know I can see your photos on Flickr, but it's not the same, without the words and stories.
    I am a convert to those seed lights; haven't seen any for sale, so must look harder! I have some cute little battery-operated strands which I love, but those teeny-tiny lights are wonderful. Well, they are when they're in your home. Not sure I could make them look as pretty.
    Zxx

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    1. Oh you have made me laugh out loud!!!!!! Thank you for appreciating my words, I just wish I did as well!!!!!!

      Oh man, I think I am having a REALLY unhealthy relationship with seed lights. I've never seen lights so cool. They are almost invisible little dudes that give of a neat little glow; and the wire just wraps up in a ball so you can just put them into any kind of position. So much more flexible that light strands. It'll be a running joke in my house soon! x

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  14. Just stay, Vanessa! Don't go! The blog world is better with you in it :) beautiful post as usual. Gorgeous pictures and colours all over...visiting you makes me happy :) surely other readers feel exactly the same. So think again, take a break- a long one if you need - and come back when you are ready... We will all be here waiting. Xx

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  15. Awe you are too kind. Maybe after quite a time away, I might feel the need to re-emerge again, but for the time being, I need to just be invisible again. Thank you so much for thinking me worthy enough, to use up your time, with a visit here. I'm always so amazed this blog gets read at all!!!!!! Take care xxxx

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  16. Your blog is inspirational and your honesty hits the nail on the head for many people. Sometimes we just have to re-energize ourselves and we all have different ways of doing that. For me it is your blog. It is something I look forward to on a regular basis and when feeling overwhelmed ora little down, inspiration is always gained. Thank you and Happy Christmas to you!!! You are a gift!!!

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  17. What lovely festive pictures! Thank you so much for sharing, brought on some Christmas feeling here. Pam

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  18. I'm a fellow addict when it comes to the seed lights - aren't they just the prettiest things? I have three sets draped around the house and that's in addition to all the other fairy lights I have everywhere. It's an obsession! They'll be staying put after Xmas too as the house would look so glum without them twinkling from every corner. xxx

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  19. I am sad to read about your decision to stop blogging but I totally understand.....
    As my kids are growing up, I also feel I am moving on. I went back to work in September and things have been busy, priorities have changed and time is precious....I have less time for blog land and feel the need to use my time in the real world more..... Blog land has certainly changed and has turned into another commercialised outlet, which is a pity......it is unfortunate that it is precisely blogs like yours that keep blog land real the ones that are beginning to disappear or are questioning themselves....
    You have been a great crafty inspiration and your photos have always been beautiful. You will certainly be missed but I will follow your crafty endeavours on ravelry and pinterest as usual....
    I wish you the very best for the future and hopefully see you on the cyberspace soon...... Wishing you a cosy Christmas, Pati....Xx
    One last question before you go..... I've seen a star with mini light bulbs in one of your pictures and I want to buy one for my mum's new house/life; do you remember where you got it? Thanks once again!!!

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  20. Hell Vanessa,
    what a gorgeous Chrismassy overload! Love it all, decorating for Christmas is so much fun, filled with yummy smells, beautiful finds, old memories in all the decorations from previous years, and of course fab ideas on Pinterest! Your pinecones are so cute and I'm loving that gorgeous dog in tinsel hat ;) Merry Christmas to you and your family! Love Renata xx

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  21. Absolutely gorgeous post - loving the fir cones with the mini pom poms and they are definitely on my to do list. Merry Christmas to you xx Joy xx

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