hidden places

This week , a busy week... of discovering hidden places... and I am so reassured by how little J coped... the book festival (while J enjoyed rhymetime, sticking and colouring and people watching, I discovered gorgeous new fairytales by Carol Ann Duffy), train travel (our favourite way to travel), castles (and a whole room dedicated to weaving tapestries for me to enjoy), lakes, trees, colours, faces and turkish delight ice cream. She took it all in her stride.

some powder pink fur & green ribbons

Over the weekend I had some fun making this collar. Its knitted in powder pink Jaegar fur which was on offer at my local yarn store. I bought it in other colours too - woodland green and light fawn. I couldn't resist.

Finished it with thrift shop lace and two vintage button box buttons - one wooden heart, one shiny mother of pearl. It also looks very cute on Baby J , but she wouldn't stand still to have her photo taken ;-)

And a while back I had knitted this lace effect collar in leftover creamy yarn. I finally finished it with a striking greenest green ribbon and some more thrifted lace. It is kind of inspired by the Elizabethian collars in the 16th century. Because I guess Elizabeth I is kind of my favourite historical character. " I may not be a lion but i have a lion's heart"...

Oh I am very pleased with it. x

Tea & Toast

Just sitting down with a dainty cup of Lady Grey and the new Toast catalogue. I love the setting and styling and most of the clothes... I always swoon over Toast, but I can't really afford to shop there... I just steal ideas.

I have been sewing up some new brooches and making hair clips and knitting a lovely white camisole for myself from some bamboo yarn and using cotton yarn to design some pretty bags. I realised how little free time I have however, and I am kind of reminiscing when I was pregnant and I swirled about the house barefoot - baking cupcakes and playing with fabric and yarn.
But you know, one day there will be time again and as Baby J leaves the house to explore alone... and I will reminiscing about this time we have now where we have tea parties with toy food, hunt fairies and play dress up... sigh.

Its raining today so I am happy.

Lace and tiny footprints in the snow

I am loving lace. I am just home from my local charity shop with arms full of vintage lace. So strange what people will give away. I am delighted with it.



My Snow White bedside journal is finished

Its so dreamy... white vintage fabric and white lace sewn snug with a tiny handmade poison apple button in the centre and a silk ribbon to close.

I have also received a few custom orders this week so I am having fun designing for specific people... and meanwhile baby J has started walking!

Twinkle Twinkle

Here is the little outfit I made baby j:

Here is baby j rocking the little outfit:

fairies, fairy cakes and stars

When Baby J and I got up at 6am this morning we saw a fairy who had fallen asleep on our back door. We didn't wake her.

I spent the day baking for Baby j's birthday. Her cake is a mini iced star motif cake wrapped in a polka dot ribbon. She only needs 1 candle. Its surrounded by fairy cakes that spell out her name. I also made some extra cupcakes topped with little hearts made with the new mini cutter I just bought. Mr K ate the extra bits of cake that were leftover. Baby J stuck her hands in the icing and smeared it around a bit. mmmmmm.

Tonight I am drinking white wine with strawberry milkshake concentrate added to it (is that wrong?) and letting the dishwasher do the work...

I am so in the mood to watch Marie Antoinette. (if I ever have another daughter I might call her that.)

little stars

This week is Baby J's birthday week. I really can't believe that on Saturday I will become the proud owner of a one year old daughter. How did that happen? (Well I KNOW the stork brought her but...) Never did a whole year whizz by so fast.
Tonight I finally decided on a theme for her party. She is really into 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and every time she sees a star she does the actions to the song: a little open and closing hand like a twinkling star. I sat and cut out a load of multi coloured stars tonight for decorations. There are cakes to make too of course and her little fairy outfit is finished too, complete with star shaped wand.
We both love pretty things and hunting for fairies in the garden, building towers and knocking them down again, following cute dogs in the park, reading picture books, bashing the piano and making castles out of cushions...

I have lots of pictures to upload (and lots more news) but I am too sleepy.

x

Baby & the Beast

Another day spent crawling around the floor of the library. ah bliss. Hired out a few craft and cookery books... then we went home and ate lunch in the garden. Yes! it was actually sunny enough. I remember last year we had a glorious April and May and then a rainy, stormy rest-of-summer. My July baby was born during a thunder storm.

Beauty & the Beast - I always imagine Beast as a lion... and I never want him to change into a Prince at the end... Is that just me?

impromptu tea party

Everything is colour. the weekend was colourful.

Instead of lunch on Sunday we had a tea party. Me, Mr K & Baby J.

Baby J says 'da da da' to this Lion when he wears her Dad's spectacles. Hilarious.

Meanwhile I posted off a huge package full of hand-me-down baby goodies to a wonderful old friend who I have been getting to know again through the shared recent admission to the 'mummy club'. I love love love putting together little packages, little bundles of bits and bobs all tied up with a ribbon.

Blowing Bubbles

I have spent the day playing at 'blowing bubbles' and crawling around the floor of the library. It is certainly true to say that having my daughter has freed me up to finally spend my days the way I always wanted to...

Ideas sort of come to me in flashes and its sometimes difficult to reach out and catch one... especially when I'm tired. In my head swims visions of dolls dancing with bears, a domestic cat with a mane like a lion, pockets full of stars and roses roses roses...

I have also been thrifting and collecting and making and ordering things for baby j's little room. Its pink and green and polka dots and flowers, its dreamy, sleepy and cut and paste, its books books books...

We are reading Minty & Tink tonight. Its just perfect. Are you really real?