* Pretty Fairtrade Clothes *

I'm always on the hunt for Fairtrade & organic clothing - my aim is to end up with a wardrobe full of them! I was recently given a tip off about a FT online shop, 'Annie Greenabelle' (from sister Sue) and I've fallen in love with their pretty clothes - I think you'll love them too!


I've already purchased a number of their clothes - this one was just £10 in a sale - 'Gypsy Shirt', made from vintage fabric:


And this pretty dress I wore for Easter:

Here are some other favourites of mine:

Silky Grey Skirt
Lace top

Tea DressFloral Skirt (made from vintage fabric)
Grey silk shirt

Shopper bag (made from vintage fabrics)

Check out their full collection here.

Enjoy!

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

* Monday Treat Time *

Ok, so this isn't exactly in time for the Friday Treat, but better late than never! I've been recommended to look on 'Not on the High Street.com', a shop selling all kinds of different crafty, homemade, vintage stuff - if you're a 'Country Living Fair' regular - you'll recognise some of the items!

I've been looking for somewhere to keep our keys all safe - and they had this rustic old key holder for a mere £11! I've posted up a few other favourites that I found. Just click on the bunny at the end to check out the shop yourselves!

If we have a little boy, I'm seriously considering this for his bedroom...

A nice idea with white wool...

Sweet!

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

* Friday Treat Time *

Well, wow-ey, what a beautiful day! Time for ice creams, playing outside, listening to warm sunny music, making cooling treats and drinks, dining alfresco, sitting outside cafes and bars 'til dusk, going to the seaside, walking shady forests, sniffing blossom trees... To help you on your way this sunny weekend, I've made a Springtime playlist on Spotify - just click on the daisies below!


Enjoy!

x*x*x

* Getting into knots with Crochet *

Oh dear. Me and crochet don't seem to be getting very well together. It's my first foray into crocheting - I have been meaning to learn for a while now but I have to say its the most FRUSTRATING thing I've had to learn recently!

It doesn't help to start learning something when you are tired and emotional (blaming the pregnancy is another option)...

...and when your playful pussy cat wants to lend a paw there's no helping you!

See?!

So I'll have another go at crochet again tomorrow night and Friday - I'm determined to get this right! I'll be with crafty friends who are experts who can guide me. In the meantime, I've decided to drop one of these into a bath:And just...R-E-L-A-X!
Nothing like a purple bath and candles to mellow you out.

I hope you have better luck than me learning new things this week!

x*x*x

* Of the Woods *

For some proper spring-time dreamy magic to help you on your way when you are creating things, why not listen to 'Of the Woods'? Husband Jon and Tina Grace's new collaboration - just perfect for this time of year!



Enjoy!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time! *

I have to share an amazing film I saw last week called Benda Bilili - one of the most inspiring films I've seen in a long time!

It's about a group of street musicians in Congo-Kinshasa and follows their journey from the streets to performing across Europe. Its out in cinemas now and received a standing ovation at Cannes.

Here's a little trailer for you to watch:



Hope you get the chance to see it!

x*x*x