It seems hard to believe that it's over a year now since I made an Owl Advent Calendar for Little Miss C (and nearly a year to the day since I blogged about it too). Master C wasn't quite ready for an advent calendar last year, but even then I knew that I would need to do something for him this advent, so it was perfect timing when the team at Ocean Loans got in touch asking if I would like to be sent an Advent house from Hobbycraft and a nice gift voucher so that I could decorate it. This was of course back in early October and I was rather proud of myself for getting on to it straight away, ... read more
Crafty Catch Up – Spice of Life and Christmas Cards
Do you know how satisfying it is to actually finish a project? I managed to go to my regular knitting group this morning and it was such a lovely feeling to proudly stand up and do my bit of show and tell with my Spice of Life blanket. This is probably one of the biggest projects that I've ever finished (yes the Attic 24 Ripple is still in progress - my latest aim is to get it done by Christmas!) and I'm really pleased with how it has turned out. The finished result is gorgeous and whilst the first set of shells are a bit pulled in at the edges (I'll call that my learning curve - I went ... read more
Crafty Catch Up – Spice of Life, Halloween and the Start of Christmas
Can you tell that the crochet is completely taking over my life at the moment? If you follow me on Instagram it's probably pretty obvious. It seems that every spare minute is spent with a hook in my hand these days and I'm loving it! I'm onto the final stretch of the main body of the Spice of Life CAL now and I'm already starting to feel a bit sad about the fact that it will be all over soon. The pattern has you repeating the first half of the blanket in different colours for the second half, so there are no more new stitches to learn, but instead it's great practice of what you have ... read more
Crafty Catch Up – Spice of Life CAL and a spot of dress making
I'm still struggling a bit with this new rhythm that my week day life needs to fall into. It doesn't seem to be coming naturally at all, but I'm hopeful that a fit of being organised this Monday is starting to send things more in the right direction. I'm squeezing in crafty moments whenever I can, but again more organisation is needed to maximise these better. There have been a couple of busy weeks here with one things and another socially so hopefully now things are getting quieter more evenings with a crochet hook or a needle and thread can take place - after all what else were chilly ... read more
Crafty Catch Up – Attic 24 Ripple Blanket and Spice of Life CAL
It's been a while since I managed to pull together a my week in crafts post mainly because the school holidays have meant very little time to craft. I'm hoping that things are about to change though as Little Miss C is now back at school and Master C started pre-school last week. It means a totally different shape to each day, but one that I'm hoping to fill with plenty of crafty activities, both with and without the kids. Holiday crochet #crochet #rippleblanket #attic24A photo posted by Penny Carr (@realbeingmrsc) on Aug 28, 2015 at 2:32pm PDTThe main thing that has progressed this summer has ... read more
My fortnight in crafts – upcycling and chicken scratch embroidery
I do love writing these posts where I try and keep track of what crafting I've been doing as it can be so easy to forget. Even just week to week. Maybe it's a sign of getting old. It goes without saying that the crochet ripple blanket is growing and growing, but in all this heat I have discovered that sitting down and doing it is getting harder and harder, especially during the daytime. What is completely impossible though is taking it with me to swimming lessons. Sat up high in the viewing gallery is hot enough anyway, but with a huge crochet blanket on your knee it's pretty ... read more
My week (or two!) in crafts
This week I've discovered that it's really hard to run a blog when you end up with splitting headaches due to being given a pair of contact lenses that are the wrong prescription! No wonder I was getting lots of pain every time I sat down at my laptop. Still - problem now solved thanks to the lovely lady in the local Boots Opticians and hopefully I can now go full steam ahead again. It's been a couple of weeks since my last crafty update here, and they've actually been a really busy couple of weeks of crafting. To start with I went off to the wonderful BritMums live - a huge blogging ... read more
Several weeks in crafts
Where oh where have the last few weeks vanished to? And possibly more importantly, where oh where has the last My Week in Crafts post banished to??? Over the last month I have been crazily busy with work and a million and one other things. Little Miss C has had a birthday - and I've had to organise a party for 31 children, which was made somewhat harder when the soft play centre hat we had booked cancelled on us due to a flood! There seem to have been loads of school meetings of one sort or another, plus a school summer fair, which as tradition dictates took place in the rain. My mum has ... read more
Mix Up the Magic with Petits Filous Magic Squares #MagicSquarePlaydates
When I was first asked by Petits Filous to blog about mixing up the fun when it comes to my kids playtime I have to admit I was a bit stumped. It can be so hard at times to know how to snap your children out of that post school day slump where all they want to do is zonk out in front of the TV set. Seeing as we were being asked to mark the launch of Petits Filous' new Magic Squares I actually took influence from something I saw in their TV advert. I find that actually my kids do still have enough energy to engage with a fun activity, but after a day of following instructions at school and ... read more
My week in crafts
Strangely it's felt like I've not done much crafting this last week, but then I look at my photos as to how much my ripple blanket is growing and realise that I've actually done more than I thought. I mentioned last week about my dilemma as to whether or not to take the ripple blanket on the train to Manchester for Blog On MOSI with me and it had been my intention to find a smaller project, but in the end I was just too disorganised to find something else. Also, seeing as I was carrying a huge empty suitcase there with me in preparation for the haul of stuff I'd be bringing home there ... read more