* Miffy & New Bibs *

The summer sun has inspired my baby bib making lately - I made this Birdie bib during my holiday in the South of France. The yellow of the sunflowers that were beginning to peep out in the vast sunflower fields (as well as Miffy's lovely yellow outfit) reminded me what a cheering colour bright yellow is - I'm sure baby will think the same!

Here is Miffy modelling the Birdie bib:

I also thought baby should have a funky set of bibs, so I'm embarking on making some bandanna style ones starting with this yellow 'starry' bib:I embroidered some little stars with faces on some yellow cotton...it seems to be a bit big for Miffy, but will hopefully fit baby when she arrives!

I'm storing all my bibs and other little makes for baby in this basket - you can see some beautiful red and white knitted booties at the front - courtesy of brother Drew's knit-tastic mum, Mary!
Hope the summer sun is inspiring you too in your crafty/creative makes.

x*x*x

* Some Things My Friends Have Made...

Although my birthday was a quite a looong while ago now, I'd like to share some of the beautiful things that friends and family made for me, as well as some other crafty treats that I've been given recently. There's a range of talents here - crocheting,sewing, felting, embroidery... Its very inspiring to have such gifted friends and family!

Beegu:
Little sis Catherine made me this wonderful alien, Beegu - a character from one of my favourite children's picture books

Embroidery Hoop:
Charlotte made me this beautiful embroidery of my favourite Bible verse

Crochet shawl:
This pretty shawl was made by Helen - I can't wait to wear it when it gets colder...sitting by the fire wrapped in this beauty!

Crochet Coffee Wrap:
Anna has become a proficient crochet-er - an inspiration to me, as she learnt how to crochet pretty quickly and was straight onto making huge blankets and these snug coffee wraps! Mine stays in my handbag for whenever I buy a green tea or hot chocolate, to protect my mits!

Felt Pod:

A funky felt pod, made and dyed entirely from scratch by Debbie - I love it!Heart Pin Cushion:
This treat was hiding in the sewing box Charlotte gave me - she didn't think it was very good, but I think it's perfect

Sewing Bag:
Catherine had been a busy sewing bee, making me this cute sewing bag, as well as Beegu

...and a better snap of the wondrous sewing box from Charlotte - its magical, because it has 6 drawers that fold in and out!
Thank you lovely friends!

x*x*x

* Baby Bib Making *

So I've begun make my baby items, starting with something fairly easy - little spittle bibs. I'm hoping to make at least five more, including a felt birdy, cherries, strawberries, and a special Bert bib!

* Mr. Apple *

* Lady Bunny *
* Cheery Pear *

x*x*x

* Making & Learning *

A busy bank holiday for me with lots of making and learning new things!

First, we visited some friends who are expecting their first baby and I had a go at making a 'Baby Bear face & hand towel' - here's how Benji Bear turned out:

I added a little label to explain what Benji Bear was (i.e. not a toy!):

And wrapped him up in tissue paper and was duly presented to the expectant parents:

I'm hoping to make a few of these little chaps for myself before little lady Bilbrough arrives!

Next, we had to say au revoir to a lovely family who are moving to Spain - I made each of them some felt 'Prayer Turtlies' - each turtle had a special prayer for every person in the family, from dad to baby...

...and could all be stacked up together, as a reminder they can support each other as a family:

I think everyone liked their gifts!

Husband Jon has been sharing his gift of music with me - I had promised myself that if I was blessed enough to become pregnant, I'd learn how to play the guitar so I could play lullabies and songs to our children.

I'm currently learning how to play one of Jon's very own lullabies, Elanor, a song about the last character in Toliken's The Lord of the Rings.

I'm coming along ok!

Hope you had a lovely bank holiday too!

x*x*x

* Bunting Make *

We hosted our Easter Sunday Feast yesterday for family and friends - and a celebratory feast isn't a celebratory feast without bunting! So we made some especially for the occasion and here it is in all its glory:

If you're interested, here is how we made it:

* BUNTING MAKE *

Step 1: Off we went to the Fabric Shop to get some scraps of material we'd like for our bunting - we brought 1/2 yard of fabrics we liked at about £1.50-3.00 each (Hobbes is standing guard over our fabric for us here):


Step 2: Then we got some white binding/ribbon 10 metres long from Hobbycraft for £1.50 (various markets sell this at different lengths possibly even cheaper than that).

Step 3: Jon cut a 'bunting' triangle shape out of some scrap cardboard and we drew around the triangle shape using felt tip pens across the fabrics:

Step 4: We cut them all out (sitting in the garden sunshine to do this)!

Step 5: I then used my sewing machine to attach the triangles in an order we liked to the white binding/ribbon:


...if you dont have a sewing machine, we've also used strong glue before that doesn't show through fabrics, which is even faster! As the bunting is hanging up high, you don't really notice the details - especially when there is a lot of it!

Happy bunting making!

x*x*x

* Beatrice Bee Badges *

Hurray! Thanks to my lovely friend Charlotte and her special badge making machine, I was able to make some Beatrice Bee Badges:

If you haven't met my dancing bee character and heard a bit of her story yet, click here.

All the best people are now wearing them, as you can see!





If you'd like to buy one, for just 30 pennies, just email me, leave a comment or just ask when you next see me!

x*x*x

* Crochet Success! *

So - I have, after some perseverance and patience, just about got the hang of crochet (or doing the 'lines' at least!) Here is my latest triumph:

Not much to look at, I know, but this makes me very happy! I'm now dreaming up all the things I can make...If you squint your eyes just imagine what this little patch of crochet could become...

...a blanket for Berta...

...a kind of hat for Bert......or a winter jacket for Hobbes!

He seemed very pleased with the idea!

I hope you've had some successes this week too!

x*x*x