BOYS WILL BE BOYS ...

I know that this has absolutely nothing to do with crafts or goodies I've made, but it is priceless, and sums up Boy Child ..... 110% boy!!!

He spends hours trying to catch these bullfrogs ... and is successful fairly frequently. This one made the funniest noise when he was picked up:-) Once we'd taken the pictures, he was safely returned to his watery home:-)

PINCUSHIONS...

Wow, it has certainly been a memorable week for our family. I became an aunty again on Thursday. My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy:-) We are all very excited about his arrival - he was two and a half weeks early, but he's a big, strong, healthy boy. This does mean that the pressure is now on to get the blanket I showed you a couple of posts ago, finished. I'm 3/4 way done with it, so hopefully it will not take me too much longer. I have to just say, I love being an aunty:-)

I have 2 more pincushions to share with you today ... I really enjoy making these - to be honest, they're a little addictive!!! Hmm ... Pincushions Anonymous .... I may need it one day:-)

This is an Easter/Spring themed one. It's pink and polka dotted .... what's not to love about it:-)

I love gnomes. My Valentines date with my hubby this year was to go and see Gnomeo and Juliet (He knows me so well)!!! It was such a pretty movie, and the music was great. I couldn't resist making a Gnomeo pincushion - this one was given away, but I did snap up more of these gnomes (Joann had them on clearance), so there will be more gnome pincushions for sure.

Must dash ... there's a baby boy patiently waiting for his blanket!!!

ENCHANTED WOODLAND CREATURE ...

We owned our own prickly little hedgehog a couple of years ago. Mr Prickles was a bundle of cuteness - he had the sweetest little face I'd ever seen. I have had a long standing fascination with hedgehogs .... they amaze me.

Our YOE 2 theme for March was hedgehogs (imagine my sqeal of delight when I heard that!!!). This was my creation. She is a little amigurumi hedgehog. I'd been wanting to make her for a while, but there was something about making the prickles, that scared me a little. However, this was the perfect time to give it a try (I did have a Plan B, had she been a disaster). The prickles weren't too difficult to do after all. They took me a little while to do, but the result was so worth the time.
Her little face lookes just like Mr Prickles did ... too adorable for words!!!
She has a mummy, that is a little bigger than her - I'm definately going to give her a try when I have a little spare time.

For those who may be interested in where I found the pattern ..... I got it out of the book by Ana Paula Rimoli, called Amigurumi World. I have made lots of things out of this book, as well as her second book, Amigurumi Two. I love her books ... so easy to read and understand, which is great for a novice like me:-)

I'll leave you now with this little bundle of cuteness ... I hope all of you have a lovely weekend.

HOOKY HAPPINESS ...

Since picking up a crochet hook almost a year ago, I have spent many happy hours creating. I've created lots of little amigurumi animals, flowers, pin cushions ... and so the list goes on:-)

I find it very relaxing, and probably the most satisfying part about it - you get really quick results !!!

2 crochet blogs in particular have become favorite daily reads for me - the lovely Lucy's (Attic 24) and sweet Alice's (Crochet with Raymond). Both those ladies have a way with color - their blogs are pure eye candy, and I've learned a lot from them.

So, today I thought I'd show you a work in progress (WIP) as well as something that I hope will soon come to fruition.

First the WIP - a blanket for my soon to be niece or nephew. My sister's baby is due early next month .... let's hope she can hold on that long. She's carrying one mighty big baby there!!!! My initial plan for it was to make a giant granny square .... then .... boredom set in .... so .... I changed my mind, and decided on 4 large granny squares joined together with a few rows of granny clusters as a border. I am much happier with this change of plan .... now I just need to get moving with it ...as we all know babies wait for nobody - least of all a slow aunt !!!!

Secondly, I conquered it !!! The flower of the moment - the Japanese flower!!!! Lucy at Attic 24 recently showed a shawl that she was making using these flowers, it is absolutely gorgeous:-) Being the crochet baby that I am, I had no idea how to make this flower, and all my searches turned up nothing, that was until Alice from Crochet with Raymond came to the rescue, and mentioned that the blog, Elizabeth Cat, had a photo tutorial for this flower on it. I whizzed over there, and 30 minutes later had created this beauty. I am definately going to make that shawl for myself (It is too beautiful not too). I just have to be patient and wait until I can get some lovely yarn to make it in !!! In the meantime, It's loveliness will fill my dreams:-)

The kids are on Spring Break this week - although it's been colder the past few days than it has in a while. It hasn't stopped all that nasty pollen though, from wreaking havoc with my sinuses ... so yukky!!!

Have a lovely week ... it's certainly a pretty time of year:-)

SOMETHING DIFFERENT .... ANOTHER IDEA ...

I like to try and come up with different ways of presenting things.
How often do we get asked to share our recipes (a lot, if you love taking part in swaps:-). So for my latest swap, I put on my thinking cap, and this is what I came up with - pretty and practical.

I printed the recipe onto printable fabric. I then did a little log cabin type thing around the edges .... please excuse my technical term - It's the first time I've done this !!!I used some themed fabric for the backing, and sandwiched 2 layers of batting between the fabrics. A little bias tape around the edges, and there you have it - a hot pad with the added bonus of a tried and trusted family recipe:-)

They didn't take me long to make, and they cost me nothing extra, as everything I used to make them came from leftovers I had in my stash. I think I'll definately be making a few more of these in the not to distant future.

Now for my Mom Moment .... you know we all have those from time to time, when we feel the need to brag about the achievements of our offspring. Boychild took part in our school districts MTA Spelling Bee this morning. He got a GOLD medal !!! He spelt all 5 of his words correctly ... he made us so proud.

Enjoy your weekend everyone !!!!

PRIME REAL ESTATE ....

Every gnome needs a home !!!

Let me show you .....

Mushroom Hollow

Gnomeville

Lovely, well manicured garden .... with views from the top window, that a gnome could only dream of...

Large windows, ensuring plenty of natural light ...

A private cherry orchard, ensuring a summer filled with sweet, juicy goodness ...

What a wonderful place to live:-)

IT'S BEEN WAY TOO LONG ....

My poor neglected blog !!!
February has flown by. It turned out to be an insanely busy month for our family - the soccer season began, we had numerous scout activities, 5 school days missed due to snow and ice ... you know how it goes !!!
Just when I thought I could pay this poor blog some attention, I took a silly tumble and ended up laid up in a knee brace for a while. That coupled with the nasty tummy bug that has worked its way systematically through my family this week ... well, It just never got done.
But here I am now .... pity party over .... to show you some creations:-)

The theme for YOE 2 in January was snow scenes. We were required to make an ornament that depicted something snowy:-)
My partner should have recieved her package by now, so I'll show you what I came up with.

This started its life as one of those wooden birdhouses you can buy at most craft stores. I painted it a soft pink and used Snowtex to create a snowfall. I then VERY liberally glittered it with irradecent glitter (I love the shimmer it gives). What is a birdhouse without any residents .... so these 2 little lovelies were added to the ornie.
I have also discovered that spraying a light coat of clear varnish over the glitter, stops the glitter from falling off - I do this on all of my glitter projects now.

Isn't she the cutest .... a little snow fairy. I can't remember which blog the tutorial was on, but if you search "snow fairy tutorial", it's the first one that pops up. It was a great tutorial and she was very easy to make, and I loved the fact that you could do whatever you liked, creatively with her skirt.

There are a few items I need to get done during this next week, to meet some deadlines. So It'll be a busy week and I should have lots to show you :-)

Have a lovely week ... Spring is quickly approaching, and my daffodils should burst into flower any day now:-)