Creatures

We seem to be having a week of little creatures.

First up came the lovely beaded dragonflies I have been making, then we found a baby lizard in the kitchen and rescued him from the furries, putting him in a safe place outside.

He must have found his way up the drain as he suddenly appeared in the en-suite guest bath, so he was rescued once again.

We have been having trouble with our tv satallite, losing signal at the most inopportune moments, even losing half of the last episode of Downton Abbey! Quite frustrating, we thought poor signals due to the very wet, cloudy weather.  DH did go and clean the dish and removed a web but still problems.  Time to call in the experts!

What did he find? A huge tarantula had made his new home up inside the sensor, so every time he went out we were fine then on his return - poof all gone again.

The cure? a very sophisticated piece of polystyrene shoved in the gap! 

One very expensive eviction!  

Dragonflies

A whole mish mash of lifes goings on since my last post, most of which I could have done without, especially the migraines, medical appointments and the like. Also the camera card has gone on the blink and getting photos is proving quite a challenge.

The lounge chimney was knocked down and the new wood burning stove installed, what a difference, very economic in its useage of logs, so much extra warmth created by having the fire free standing (no chimney), but the best thing of all is it is so much cleaner and produces very little dust or ash, less time dusting and sweeping up, so I wonder if that means more time crafting? hmmm bet it doesn't!

 A quick blink of the eye and Christmas suddenly seems to be looming and the pressie box is not as full as it should be! and only 4 pressies for the advent calender, ooh I am slacking!

I did manage to make several pairs of shoe stuffers though, as a friend brought over my parcel of lavender from the UK so I was able to finish them off.

I have made several of the cotton cloths though, including the ones below of a dragonfly and hearts

I also ordered some lovely yarn from the UK to make DD a little bolero for a Christmas gift, both fronts completed, just working on the back now.  I treated myself to some new bamboo needles, they are so light and smooth and don't seem to produce the annoying click click sound that the metal ones do.

DD has now set the wedding date for September next year, so many an hour has been spent searching relevant sites for ideas, amazing where the time goes when on the computer

.

DD wants to incorporate butterflies and dragonflies, so I have been busy making some beaded ones, leaving the wires long so that they can be used in a variety of ways.  They do take about a couple of hours each, so how many we will get is yet to be seen!

Oh well back to the knitting, see if it can be a finish soon ready for the box.

take care

We're back

Yet another hospital appointment for DD on Thursday, this time it was for a second opinion on the vascular problems, unfortunately the second opinion was the same as the first and was not good at all.  More scans!

DH and I started our project of the Spanish street last year, but it was shelved due to lack of time and inclination because of all that was happening with DD. However, we are Back!  the Spanish bar is nearly complete, just needs a few tweaks, bar stools and a couple more accessories.

The grape picture above the bodega is actually a 1/12th scale version of  tile art that is in our Naya

The pictures above the bar are again from full scale tiles in our lounge and depict Don Quixote

We moved on to the artist's gallery - DH had already made the artist doll, so yesterday I made his clothes, belt and sandals.  We have to complete all the pictures and hang them in the gallery, then make some more items, but it is slowly coming along and nice to see it happening again.

DH also made this little hall table, just right for the cheese plant.

I have been doing a few Christmas gifts too in between the minis, I find there is only so long I can do them before my eyes get too tired, so it's nice to have normal size projects to make.

Wonder what is on the agenda today?
Take care
  

Tuesday treasure and more minis

When my Dad was a young boy during WW2,  he lived opposite Croydon areodrome (Surrey UK) and would watch the planes as they arrived and departed and even had one overshoot into their front garden.  It was during this time that he and his father would approach households with bomb damage to their leaded light windows and offer to repair or replace them.  It was during this time he learnt  the technique.  Fast forward many years and upon my suggestion one rainy day when he was at a loss he took up the hobby again.  He changed from lead to copper tape and being that his background was in electronics, was a dab hand at soldering.  He had wonderful stocks of the most beautiful shaded glass you could image, just like our fabric stashes. He was also quite prolific in his creations, enough that we ended up taking his wares to the local market to sell.
This beautiful lamp stands proudly in my lounge and even takes low energy bulbs, so it can stay on all night.  This is my Tuesday Treasure hosted by Melody, sadly we lost Dad in Oct 2009 but I have so many of his lovely lamps, clocks and other treasures that he is around all the time.

We are still up in the early 30'sC unbelievably warm for October.  DD has her best friend and little 4 year old staying with her at the moment, so after yet another hospital appointment we went to Calpe for lunch then on to the beach.  I had quite forgotten the wonder and joy a 4 year old can radiate by slipping into his cossie and jumping around in the very warm rock pools and making sand pies and castles, it certainly made his day. DD joined them in the pools and then presented me with a teeny tiny shell and a pretty pebble, so really I can have two Tuesday's treasure today!

I even managed some crafting time at the weekend and played around with basket making, it was quite time consuming, but then again what isn't? and sticky with the glue, but I was pleased with the final results after trying various different threads.  We also made the contents of the baskets, with the exception of the cat!

 (Thimble used for scale)

 The Alibarba basket has a removable lid

I mentioned knitting the little shopping bag a couple of posts ago, so it was sewed up and a leather handle added. The other hand bags are made from faux suede and are very soft.  All in all quite productive.

It was back to chores this morning, but there is always this afternoon........
take care

Builders

Not much crafting going on at the moment for me, unfortunately there have been more hospital appointments with DD, now she needs to wait for a further CT scan of her lungs, breathing tests, consultations and updates with the vascular department, its all go!

We have also just knocked down our chimney in the lounge, it held a cassette log fire which had burnt through last season and needed replacing.  I was impressed on the builders, we had removed what we could and covered the rest of the furniture, but they were very clean, removing all debris, swept up, even asked for another broom! and left the place very tidy.  Not like some we have had where I don't think they had even heard of a dust pan and brush.  Now we wait for the wall to be rendered and a new fire installed.

I did knit a shopping bag, it's just waiting to be sewn up and handles attached, so I will show you later, and I managed to needleweave a few more mini ferns ready for the flower pots.

Going to nip off now and see if I can sneak a little time crafting.

take care

Little minis

This is our yukka at the beginning of the drive way with the mountain as the back drop, it didn't flower last year so its nice to see it in bloom again

I have joined Lynette Anderson's project club, although unfortunately I still can't get the little badge to go on the page, anyway, this little thimble bag was the bonus pattern.  They are really easy to make and cute too.  I increased the pattern making ones for larger pressies.  These are ideal for tiny gifts or crystals, any manner of things.

I have also been making plants, 1/12th scale, here are a couple of ferns and although the mass of french knots look a little strange, they are destined to become trailing ones, like these....

quite effective once in place.

Also made tiny flower pots and bowls from stiff paper ready to be placed in the florists or in the house garden.

The first project from LAPC was for this delightful pouch.  I have made plenty of this type of pouch before, especially for Christmas decorations, but I always made them so much smaller.

This size is just right for that special something you treasure or wish to give as a lovely wrapping for that special gift 

 plenty of room inside.  Great fun to do something different

better go, got some mini gardening to do, take care

Frogz

I had finished all the components for the frog and they all just needed to be stitched together and stuffed.

 After a remake of the head pieces, as I had stitched them wrongly and the yarn did not like being undone, he gradually came together and here is the finished article.

DD was really chuffed with him and he now resides on her shelf in her new house.

After a couple of days of cloud, the sun is shining so off to enjoy

take care