When I read about the Hillarys Craft Competition for 2015 I knew I wanted to enter, but the question as what to make? With 1m square of fabric from their new Roman Blinds and curtains collection there were so many possibilities. Instantly the Daisy Pistachio fabric jumped out at me as the one I wanted to work with - even if I had imagined the pattern to be smaller on it than it actually turned out to be - but I was completely undecided about which of my plans to follow. Then, there I was one day hanging the washing out when inspiration struck me. My trusty old Cath Kinston peg bag was ... read more
My Week in Crafts
It's been all about crochet here this week. Well crochet and a spot of name tape sewing seeing as Little Miss C went back to school on Monday. In my usual disorganised fashion I suddenly realised at 8.30am on Monday morning that a ski coat probably was no longer appropriate for school seeing as the forecast was for 20 degrees. Luckily I'd picked up several coats from a half price sale in Millets so the kids should be correctly attired for the next couple of years between them, but of course the new coat was un-named and anyone who has had to spend an hour searching through a smelly pile of ... read more
My week in crafts
Another row finished whilst watching today's swimming lesson. #crochet #craft #momsoninstagram #handmade #homemade A photo posted by Penny Carr (@realbeingmrsc) on Apr 16, 2015 at 1:50am PDT It's been a week of mainly continuing with the two main projects that I started last week. Firstly the crochet ripple blanket has progressed well. With it still being the school Easter holidays here Little Miss C was booked on to an intensive swimming course which meant that we were at the pool every morning for a 30 minute lesson, in addition to her usual slot on a Friday afternoon. Excellent ... read more
My week in crafts
Since my lightbulb moment a week or so ago I'm finding that whenever I have a moment or two spare, rather than reaching for my phone and going on social media, I'm picking up something crafty and doing that instead. And I'm absolutely loving it! Not every week am I going to manage to complete a whole crafty project (and possibly not even every month!) but I do want to try to keep track of what I'm up to so here goes with the first of many My week in crafts posts. In the last week I've kicked off two quite major projects. Firstly I'm crocheting again (the first since finishing my big ... read more
Introducing the Pointy Nosed Pooch and Finding Balance
It's funny how sometimes you don't realise what is missing in your life until it is reintroduced and then you're left wondering how you ever coped without it. Back when I started this blog (nearly 7 years ago now) one of the main drivers was because I was feeling swamped by my day job and I wanted to force myself to make the time for all the crafty things I enjoy. It may seem a bit like a backwards way of doing things, but I was determined to actually do some of the things that I was reading about on other people's blogs, and for me a way to do that as to make myself write about what I got ... read more
Banner Making with Super+Super at Drink, Shop & Do
I had quite simply the most brilliant time at the Super+Super workshop at Drink, Shop & Do last week. I'm under absolutely no obligation to blog about it again, but I came home absolutely buzzing from it and therefore want tell you all about it. Firstly, the workshop itself. As I said last week it was put on by the publishers GMC to promote the two new books by Super+Super: Embroidery and Printmaking, and a review of both books will be coming soon. The aim of the workshop was for everyone to make their own banner on the night - either embroidering it or printing a design on to ... read more
Super+Super at Drink, Shop & Do!
I've always said that things in life are cyclic and trends certainly seem to go that way. Years and years ago women (and it was mainly women back then) used to gather together and craft as a group. This wasn't only done for social reasons, but so that skills could be shared between generations, as well as the practical issues like sharing childcare and saving fuel by only heating the one venue where people were meeting. After years in which crafters seemed to work at home on their own it now appears to me to have gone full circle with more and more people (of all ages, and both male and ... read more
Owl Advent Calendar
As anyone who knows me in real life will tell you, I'm brilliant at starting craft projects, but when it comes to finishing them it's another story entirely. The house (and cabin at the bottom of the garden) are full of unfinished projects (over 41 at the last count - but shhhh don't tell my husband) and the situation has been getting a bit out of hand lately. And I daren't even count how many project I've got everything for, but haven't yet started. It's not that I don't want to finish them, it's just that I either run out of time or something more exciting comes along and they're ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 8 – Mummy daughter day
I find it difficult sometimes ensuring that I still get one on one time with Little Miss C now that her brother's here, and especially since he naps less. I know that she misses that attention, and I've realised that some of her bad behaviour can stem from not having that time with me. During the school holidays I'm making a real point of making sure that we do something special together on the days when Master C is in nursery. This week we were busy getting ready for our holiday and trying to sort out laundry and packing, so I asked LMC what she would like to do for lunch. Her choice was to ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 6 – Birthday party, upcycling and vintage sewing patterns
As I feared, time is starting to run away from me somewhat and I'm already starting to wonder what it was we did a couple of days ago. After the excitement on Luton on Monday, Tuesday was intended as a bit of a quieter day at home, punctuated by a lunchtime birthday party for both children at the kind invitation of one of Little Miss C's school friends. The party was held in a Scout hut in a part of St Albans that I'm not at all familiar with (and hence I discovered a fantastic new playground next door too), and as we were still blessed with gorgeous hot weather here it was particularly ... read more