Christening invitations

I recently designed and made some christening invitations for a friend of my sister. She is christening her son and daughter at the same time so they needed to be unisex. They are printed onto a pearlised paper which I think is perfect for invitations.

Christmas is coming

I always mean to be organised with christmas - its at the same time every year so it shouldn't really come as such a suprise but it just seems to appear from nowhere and I find that I'm not really ready. So this week I have started on a few handmade gifts I have had the idea of for ages. Hoping it will get me started thinking about christmas!

And speaking of christmas, I am offering free christmas gift wrapping on all the items in my shop in the run up to the big day!

Finally! Something new and its not alphabet blocks!

Well, there are blocks involved but no alphabets! I have just added two new items to my etsy shop:

A new one of a kind cat toy. This one is called Henry.

And a new set of blocks. This is a set of two with mix and match animal illustrations. Both of these items are priced at only £10 so great for stocking fillers this christmas!

Christmas anyone?

I was thrilled to be recently included in bloesem kids baby christmas gift guide. I love pretty much everything else in the guide as well - so looks like I'm in good company!

Reminds me I should start thinking about christmas...

Percy's new accessory

I know everything seems to be all about blocks lately - but that's because I'm making a lot of blocks!

I had the pleasure of making a special block to go with Percy the cat to make a lovely new baby gift set.

And a set of personalised name blocks for Emma:

Its a good job I love making these blocks (apart from the sanding bit - thats a bit boring).

Blocks galore

I've been working on three custom block orders this week, all for 1st birthday gifts. Happy birthday Felix, Poppy and Elsie!

Ever grilled a cake?

Its the Husband's birthday today so yesterday Bea and I baked him a birthday cake. We bake together most weeks so this wasn't an unusual activity for us. As normal my priority was speed and simplicity to avoid complete destruction of the kitchen and Bea's priority was seeing how much icing she could get away with eating.

The mixing of the cake went quite well - apart from when Bea tipped flour on her feet - it was the cooking where things went wrong. I had turned on the grill instead of the oven. Luckily I noticed after about 5 minutes that the top was browning rather quickly but it may be the reason for the cake being flat as a pancake. It is green because Bea has allocated that as Daddy's favourite colour (apparently mine is orange!) and the writing is in red because thats what I had in the cupboard. That explains why it looks like some sort of halloween party cake. Also Bea's distribution of sprinkles is a little uneven but we hoped the sparkler thing would distract from that.

Hopefully the result is endearing. I'll be sending Bea to cake decorating school as soon as shes old enough. Although maybe I can't talk - I'm the one who grilled the cake.

New work in progress

Now the knitting is out of the way I have finally started on the Daisy Chain sampler kit. I'm on my third letter now and really enjoying it. I haven't got much embroidery experience so I'm sure mine won't look quite as perfect as Alicias but I am trying my best to keep it neat!

New blocks for a new baby

I have just finished a custom set of alphabet blocks destined to be a new baby gift. Hope little Sam likes them!

Little sisters jumper

Hooray and hallelujah! I have finally finished knitting this little top for Bea that I feel like I have ben working on forever! That was partially due to a lack of knitting time and also having to restart about three times due to KWT (knitting when tired.)

The pattern also only went up to 24 months so I was doing made up maths as I went along to make it a bit bigger. Seems to have worked though!

The pattern is intended to be a dress but I decided to make it a top as it will be a more useful addition to Bea's wardrobe like that. And thank goodness I didn't have to go on knitting a whole dress! I don't know what it was about this project that made it seem such a slog - it was pretty easy and I really like the results.

I finished it off with two little floral covered buttons which I think are really cute. Now maybe if the autumn ever turns up she can wear it!

Flora

Flora is a new cat that I have just added to my Etsy shop. She is a girly cat who loves flowers and tea parties. See more of her here.

Lovely Libby

My camera came back last night and I just couldn't wait to take some quick snaps of this blouse I made for Bea this week. I joined in the Libby shirt sew along over at Craftiness is not optional and I am LOVING this new top. (And judging by the weird fake smile she is doing here Bea is happy with it too).

I chose a pretty cotton print I have used before here and cream cotton for the bib. The lovely buttons are a kind of pearly gold colour that I think works really well.

I based the sizing on an age 3 top but it came out slightly smaller than I would have liked - It fits her perfectly but I like things a little bit big so they last longer. (The child just will not stop growing!) Oh well, I may just have to make another one when she grows out of it!

Etsy eye candy

I am cameraless this week and therefore photoless of any of my own new creations. Instead here are a few lovely things from my Etsy favourites:

Tea bag holder from Kims Little Monsters

Hello greeting card from Tea & Ceremony

Animal pillows from Vintage Jane

Lovely lovely!

Meet Percy

An extra post this week - but also cat related!

I have just added this little chap to my Etsy shop - see here for full details.

Percy is handmade from linen and cotton with a hand embroidered face. Hes on the look out for a good home!

A persons a person, no matter how small

And a certain small person in this house celebrated her 2nd birthday last week.

We started the celebrations with a trip to Peppa Pig world the day before. Although it was quite a stressful experience I would recommend it for any serious Peppa fans. But go on a week day. During term time. In the winter.

We spent her birthday itself as a family opening presents and going to play group (its what she said she wanted to do!) and saved the festivities for the following weekend when we had... a Cat in the Hat party! We held it at my mums, 2 hours away from where we live and only arrived about 20 mins before the party was due to start with decorations to put up and a cake to decorate so please excuse the hurried quality of the photos - it was a little stressful to say the least! Everyone had fun in the end though. Here are a few details:

The birthday girl of course wore her Cat in the Hat dress - and I would like to add she wasn't really wearing purple crocs with it, they were just for playing in the garden.

I made banners to put up along with some red and white balloons.

The colour scheme was a Dr Seuss style red, white and turquoise including stripy paper straws which I have been waiting for an excuse to buy.

We ate green eggs and ham. I made green devilled eggs which were supposed to be beautifully piped but as I say we had about 5 minutes to prepare before guests arrived so when a bit of yolk got stuck in the piping nozzle I gave up and just spooned the filling in.

I also made purple cupcakes as an homage to the film version rather than the book as we watch it on a regular basis!

I couldn't get a good picture of the cake although that may be for the best - it was iced at speed. I was pleased with the bunting on top though. And Bea liked it which was most important!

A very tiring but very fun week!

Lets get personal

I have just listed a new item in my Etsy shop! Its alphabet blocks again but this time you can order any combination of letters you like. They make a sweet addition to a nursery, or a lovely new baby gift.

Escape to the Cotswolds

We have just returned from a very relaxing week in the Cotswolds. I haven't been there since I was very small so I had no memory of how lovely the area is.

We stayed near the Cotswolds Water Park and were lucky enough with the weather to be able to enjoy an afternoon on the lakeside beach.

Bea was thrilled to be allowed an ice cream all to herself.

We spent a day at the Cotswolds wildlife park - absolutely the best zoo I've ever been to.

Although this sign made us a little wary of going near the lions!

I wish I'd got some better pictures of Bourton on the Water, it is a very, very pretty village.

And it has a model village (I seriously love model villages) which Bea enjoyed, although it was a shame it doesn't have any little figures, only the buildings and a couple of cars.

A lovely British holiday was had by all!

Cat In The Hat dress

Bea named this dress herself. We watch Cat in the Hat quite a lot at the moment and as soon as she saw the dress she said 'my cat in the hat dress!' I can kind of see why...

Please excuse the crazed expression in this photo - its what you get when you ask for a smile. And excuse the bluriness - I was laughing at the expression.

I made this little dress for Bea to wear for a wedding following the Junebug dress tutorial from Craftiness Is Not Optional.

I fell in love with the button detailing on the front and simple shape. I decided to make mine sleeveless as I thought with the stripes it would be a bit much so I had to construct my bodice differently from how she describes.

The tutorial was easy to follow and I'm really pleased with the way it came out, even if I couldn't get the model to cooperate!

Beautiful!

I love this hand drawn type by illustrator Sasha Prood. Its so delicate and intricate.

ABC

I have a new item in my new shop.

These are handmade alphabet blocks with my illustrations and hand drawn type on.

Each block is hand cut and painted, then the images are applied before the whole thing is given several coats of non toxic varnish.

They also come in a handmade calico drawstring bag to keep them safe.

I really love these blocks. They are so much fun to work on I am now doing the whole alphabet so it will be possible to order a personalised set. Great for nursery decor!