Al long time away...but Merry Christmas!

Having been soooo busy making handmade decorations to sell at the local school craft fair, 

my blog, I have to say, was put aside!.   

However, my Tree is up,( good job too I hear you cry)  and decorated by my hand made decorations too. 

I am pleased I managed to get every thing done.   

 As I can pause for breath now before the next splurge of activity (I'm having a mincepie and mulled wine, friends get together So my kitchen and I will be getting to know each other again while I bake away!)

I shall spend a few moments to catch up with my blog and make a post 

One of the gifts I made and an idea given from the wonderful internet, is a recipe gift in a jar.   Of course you cant sell the ingredients unless you've tried it out for your self can you!?!    So following the instruction for Gingerbread Cookies I made mine and  Yum, yum, Spicey but utterly delicious. (thank you Staci from allrecipes.co.uk)

When it came to adding the christmas spices I didn't skimp on the tsp level!!! 

so they really were lovely and spicey, of course you can always add a little less.

Have a go, there's still time to bake some more!! The kids can cut out the dough into whatever Christmas shapes you have at hand and fresh from the oven, they are sooo tasty.

Have fun baking 

xVx

Busy doing nothing......?

It has been a little quiet here of late, but be assured I have not been busy doing nothing..

My daughters primary school are holding a craft fair and I have been beavering away at my craft emporium (well craft desk in the hall way) making lots of little goodies to sell. 

No pictures yet, so to keep things going I have a little baking treat to offer courtesy of Jamie Oliver. 

I had a friend over for tea with her little girl so decided to make pizza!  

I have never attempted pizza dough before but trusted Jamie to see me through.

I have to say there is no going back to freezer bought pizza's. Even if I do say so my self...this was one lovely pizza and the best thing about homemade pizzas is that everyone can choose their own topping and its fun getting the kids involved too.

You will find the pizza dough recipe in 'Jamie's Italy' pg. 52 where he talks you through the process but here is the basic ingredients for the dough itself:

For a pizza this size, could make 2 round ones I used:

400g strong white bread flour

100g ground semolina

1/2  tablespoon fine sea salt

1x 7g sachet of dried yeast

1/2 tablespoon golden caster sugar

Just over 1/2 pint of lukewarm water

Mix water,yeast, and sugar together and leave

Mix dry ingredients and salt

Make a well in the flours and add the yeast water

use a fork to bring ingredients together

knead into a dough ball

wrap the dough very tightly in cling film ( or you might find it bursting out as I did when you go back to it!!!) leave in the fridge until required

Roll out when ready to cook

Add your toppings, 

enjoy

xVx

Pom tiddy pom.....

A frugal make....Can you justify buying more wool when you have so much left over??

 (well probably, yes..)

But Luckily for my purse I had a light bulb moment and thought...

Pom tiddy pom......

I bought my self a pom pom maker, soooo long ago I am surprised I remembered I had it..and brought it al the way out here to Cyprus.

Having routed through all my craft boxes I came up for breath triumphant!

With Pom Pom maker and left over yarn in hand I set aside time to make a pom pom garland.

Although I have hung my garland outside, I think that at Christmas time I shall decorate my home with them. 

I can think of many occasions that these lovely pom poms can be used to decorate such as birthdays, summer parties or even just to brighten up any room in the house you fancy.

xVx

Cat Who???

I was trying to think of small projects to do using the felt recently bought from Seamstar.  I wanted it to go a long way.....so what would be small, cute and useful? 

A Little Feltie keyring....

Here he is.....

I think he looks like a cheeky chappie but the right name escapes me...

So I thought I would put the question out there

Cat who???

I would love to here your ideas for the perfect name for a cheeky chappie cat.

xVx

a sneak preview....

My friend is due to give birth at the end of this month,

So to celebrate this fact I have decided to do an embroidery. 

My Friend has a VW camper van 

and I thought this would be a fun piece to do for their 'new arrival'!

So gathering my pieces and the VW template I liked. I now have what I need to start. 

I'd better hurry up!!

left over yarn and more...

Having finished my bathroom stool cover, I had yarn left over..what should I do?

It seemed enough at the time to make something substantial. 

So choosing something quick I thought I would granny square 

until it was gone and see how far it went towards making a baby blanket. 

 Needless to say I did have to go back to the yarn store and pick up some more.

 Not a bad chore I have to say! So arriving back with just, yes just, the yarn I needed 

I finished my 'little' project and I am pleased with the results.  

I do love the granny square!

A bright bundle of fabric

This lovely lush bundle came from Seamstar

It was so hard to choose which fabrics to buy 

and if I had my choice I would have crazily bought all they had to offer!

Instead I went for a selection of tones in bold patterns.

The felt..well I did go mad and bought just about all of their shades

I hope to soon have this beautiful lot made into some smashing little projects

Definitely have a browse through the Seamstar website. Not only do they have lovely fabric, they also sell trimmings and tools to help with embroidery too.  All delivered with a wonderful friendly service. Any questions you may have, they are happy to help.

xVx

Family and sweet treats

With family visiting, exploring and discovering comes part of the territory, especially as they arrive as holiday makers and want to explore.

Living in cyprus there is plenty to see and a little trip to the north side, Famagusta, gave us all a wonderful sweet treat!

Beautiful Turkish delights, the real thing!!

Strong primary colours with a gooey marshmallow type centre.

Exploring the shop we found mountains of delights (literally!)  with so many flavours and colours it was simply wonderful and so was the carrot turkish delight....yes carrot!! it tasted very much like toffee.

My own personal crafting has been put aside to spend time with my family but as always,  it is a pleasure to see the craft of others, especially the ones you can eat!!




xVx

'So Crocheted Chic'

Yes indeed...Crochet has long been associated with being old fashioned 

yet, as with knitting, it has been revolutionized by modern imaginations! 

I love to crochet, due in part for the swift way a project can grow.

 Not more so, than the 'humble granny square'! 

I have a stool in my bathroom, very practical and particularly shabby, 

yet most definitely not 'shabby chic' that needed sprucing up.

Yet what to do has taken some time, until now!

My inspiration..do please visit Ingrid Jansen Wood & Wool Stool

For the most part she uses the granny square to cover her delightful little stools 

and so I thought I would have a go at covering 'So Shabby' and transform it to 'So Crocheted Chic' 

The wool I used came from Freedoms' range Gorgeous D.K .

The colours I chose reminded me of the sea, so felt suited to my project.

I have also decided to show the 'reverse'

Controversial?? 

perhaps but I loved the rippled affect of the reverse treble stitch, again reminding me of waves on the sea, so.....on it went back to front!

If you would like to know how to make a granny square I have put a tutorial on my Stitch Crochet page.

xVx 

Happy Anniversary dear.....

Having been married a year, we gifted each other a book.

(paper being the first anniversary theme)

I wasn't quite brave enough to let my hubby completely choose on his own and had a book wish list to hand!

From my ever growing book wish collection, I do believe he made a wonderful choice.

Surprisingly noticing my new passion for embroidery!

so here it is...

Flicking through the pages, eyes widening with delight at the lovely projects within. I already have marked the ones I definitely will do.

With Christmas in mind these lovely little projects look simple and quick, but oh so beautiful! 

The book has 35 varying projects themed into chapters and have accompanying pictures with written instruction on how to piece them together. All of the embroidery stitches used are referenced at the back of the book. So if you are a novice to embroidery 

(as am I) 

you are not left floundering before you can begin.

All in all a lovely fresh and modern inspiration to traditional scandinavian needlecraft design.

Thank you Hubby X

x V x

For everything there is a season and a time....

This is my moment of reflection and my time for remembering.  Days can pass with never a thought of those lost. Then something, a word a thought or in this instance a piece of work that was begun many moons ago can help you remember again.

This embroidery of a Papillon butterfly was started by my mother in the mid 60's (at a guess) and never finished. 

My mother passed away 3 years ago this summer, only managing to see the first 6 months of my daughters life before illness overcame her.

This piece of embroidery has traveled with me, with the thought that it would remain unfinished, but would be kept as a memory of my mother, of that young girl I never knew.

I love the vibrant colours along with the muted golds and bronze. The more I would look at it the more I felt it was right to finish what was begun all that time ago. 

A true joining of the past and the present. Of a mother and her daughter. 

I have chosen a vibrant pink to outline the butterfly and decided to use a lovely gold thread to fill in between. (I'm learning and loving the texture of the French Knot!)

There is still some thread left to continue with the blue circles and follow the original colour scheme.

My mother pregnant with me in 1972

Thanks Mum, because every time I bake, every time I sew, knit, crochet or embroider

I remember you

All my love

xVx

Beautiful Cyprus Lace

Living in Cyprus the one place I most wanted to visit was a village called lefkara

Here they hand make lace from linen.

This can be mass produced and in the process can lose some of its charm when bought from the local tourist shops. So I was desperate to go and find the 'real thing'

The famous visiting centre D & A Lefkara Handcraft Centre have been given certificates of recognition for making lace for the pope and for the Queens coronation

The village itself is a collection of wonderful lace shops full of handcrafted lace and the women who make them.

Lefkara Village

One of the many talented women who make the lace

Did I succumb and buy some lace....?  Well of course I did

I was shown an Heirloom piece that was made by a lady 20 years ago and a design that can not be reproduced..the cost..Umm Glad someone had already decided to make it their Heirloom! 

With my meagre budget I bought a lovely piece that one day I will find the perfect place for.

xVx

Finished 'Itty Bitty Buttons'

Through all the stages and the waiting, finally 

here are my finished buttons.....and very pleased I am too.

if you pop over to my 'Mollie Makes' page 

you may find one of these 'Itty Bitty's  adorning a felt flower.

xVX

pink petal sunburst

At last and many 'petals' later I have finished my daughters cushion cover. 

I was over at Dottie Angel's blog My favorite place to visit

Where I found her post called 'Lo and beholdness..a crocheted circle of goodness..'

I fell in love with the design and followed her link to Millie's petals for the centre design, then just kept going...

Until I had my own 'pink petal sunburst'

These crochet petals are a bit addictive..so my cushion reverse is more of the same with only a colour change and round break to make it different.

I think it would brighten up any girls room..big or small

xVx

Ooo what a lovely idea!!

I've been over to Mollie Makes and found something to add to my long, long list of 

 'to make one day'  

I'm sure you agree that if socks are not your thing, like me, but do love the colours sock yarns come in, then this throw is a fantastic idea. 

I was given sock yarn sometime ago and it has yet to become something wonderful. I think I can feel a 'I need some more lovely juicy yarn' moment coming on!!  I'm definitely up for giving this a go. What do you think?

Click on 'My favorite magazine' link and you will find more details about the throw over at Mollie makes.

xVx

An 'Itty Bitty' Button update

Stage 2, 3 & 4

They have been fired in the kiln and have become Bisque.

These little lovelies are now ready to be painted and glazed.

They will then be put back in the kiln to be fired again

Next time you see them, 

they will be finished and ready to become part of a project.....

perhaps a fairytale cushion?  (see A vintage discovery post)

Victoria X 

'A vintage discovery'

Once upon a time..

...there was a tale of a fabric shop tucked away and hidden from view..

only a few knew where to find it....

Luckily the secret was told and I too went on my fabric journey of discovery.

I was amazed by what I found..A warehouse full...and I do stress full, jammed packed, overflowing....with more fabric you could decide what to do with!

Having fought my way through roll upon roll of voile, curtain and upholstery fabric. I finally found the cotton!  Pushing my way through stacked high above my head fabric rolls (my safety forgotten) I discovered a little treasure I couldn't resist. 

Reminding me of a time of my childhood, this fairytale  fabric would I felt be perfect for my daughters bedroom..a cushion perhaps?  Where this special find would be the focal point. So hunting out some complementary pink (of course!)  I had my fabric to take home.

I'll let you know how the story ends......

Victoria X 

'Itty Bitty' Buttons

Process one

First I will need my bucket full of 'slip

This is the technical term for liquid clay. 

We need to give it a stir, to remove any lumps.

We are now ready to pour the slip into the prepared mold

Now we leave it for for a little while, 

about the time it is to have a cup of tea, a slice of cake,

 if there is one going and have a lovely chat with friends at the Ceramics club.

Next:

When they are firm and will pop out easily, 

they are ready to make the button holes

Voila!

'Iitty Bitty' Buttons

They can be left plain or given a little detail, only imagination is the limit!

Now These little cuteies will go in the Kiln to be fired and they will then become 'Bisque' which is stage two and then they will be ready to decorate and glaze

I'll keep you posted!!

Victoria x

The process

I thought perhaps a little 'show and tell' will give you more of an insight to how ceramics is done. 

 You may have visions of me beavering away creating master pieces using a pottery wheel, alas no. Ceramics is a completely different process (and a lot easier!) So along with a few pic's I shall over the next few posts (as there are about 5-6 processes to go through before reaching a finished piece) will show how it's done

Victoria X 

A little bright bowl

My friends would say "at last Victoria you have a finished piece!" to which they can rightfully exclaim.   The process for ceramics is a tad time consuming and a waiting game as you make your way through each process. But I find the stages fun, (which is a good job too) So here it is my first handmade "Little Bright Bowl"