All things bright and beautiful

Yesterday was such a lovely, bright almost Springlike day that it inspired to look for and appreciate the colour in my life.

I love spring flowers.  My indoor daffodils have just gone over I'm afraid.  I prefer to grow the little miniature types but I had two pots of the large ones bought for me as a present.  I forgot to stake them so they have gone all top heavy.  They are beautiful all the same.

Cygnet Double Knit Wool

I have just received my latest order of Cygnet wool.  The colours are fantastic and the quality is top class.  
One of my competitors told a customer of mine that the reason my prices are so low is that I sell rubbish.  That sounds to me like someone who feels threatened. How sad that they have to resort to slander to keep their customers!  

Stressful Times

I was listening to the radio today and they announced that statistics show that we are on our way back in to recession.  Don't you think that this just creates the excuse the country needs to actually do just that?  Why don't they tell us something positive for a change?

How about the fact that Spring is on the way.  The nights are definitely getting lighter. I love spring and I just adore it when the clocks change and it is still light when I drive home at night.
This time of year is my busiest with regard to work and it has got to be my most stressful.  I work too hard, I sleep too little and a second before I have a nervous breakdown it suddenly gets better and I breath a sigh and thank God.  That day came today.  My desk still looks like a file graveyard but it isn't groaning under the weight of them so much now.  I'm not out of the woods yet but there is a glint of light at the end of the tunnel.
I booked a week off today.  I'm having a break mid February and I cannot wait.  I have a trade fair to go to and we're going to tag a short break in Stratford on to the trip.  We had our honeymoon in Stratford so it is a very special place for us.
Oh yes I am also arranging a Knit and Natter group too.  That should be finalised next week providing that the venue is up to scratch.  I can't view the room until next week as it is being revamped which is a good sign.  I'll keep you all posted.  I'm very excited.
Currently the knitting is all over the place.  I have three baby cardigans on the go.  All for different people but due to the level of difficulty I find it helpful to have different projects for different times of the day.  I am also doing things for the quilting class I go to.
Tomorrow is the annual quiz night where I work so no quilting group for me this week.  I am in a team of four ladies and one fella and our unfortunate team name is Four Hens and a Cock.  Very rude but it has caused a few giggles.
Well off I go now.  Steve is on holiday this week so I am having my evening meals made for me.  It makes a nice change for it to be me who sits doing nothing when I get in from work.  Ahh heaven x

Baby Grow Suit

This is a very quick visit just to let you see the latest finished article.

One of my customers asked me to finish off some knitting that she had started.  Unfortunately it proved a bit more difficult than she had expected and after a really good effort she got to the sewing up and edging and gave up.  She showed it to me  and I gave her a few tips on how to get it all sorted but she still didn't want to face it.  Finally she passed it to me and asked if I would complete the mammoth task.
I have to admit that it was probably the most challenging of knitting patterns that I have had the misfortune to tackle but it is finally finished and looks fantastic.
Unfortunately the sting in the tale is that I have lost the ladies telephone number or rather the notepad that it was in.  I don't expect that she reads this blog but you never know.  If anyone knows this person please let her know her knitting is ready for collection!  I have a special book now for all my orders, so lesson learnt.

Knit and Natter and Autumn Leaves Quilt

It's getting to be a bit of a habit this Sunday morning blog session.  It just seems to fit in nicely with my routine.
Yesterday was a great day at the stall.  Very busy.  My friend Catherine came to see me.  We are in the process of organising a Knit and Natter group which is very exciting.  It will be in Worksop and I should be able to tell you more in the next few days.  We both agree that this seems to be the next natural step forward so watch this space.

Last Wednesday was the St Peter's Mothers Union Festive Lunch.  Yes I know Christmas is well and truly over but we always have our Christmas lunch in January.  We had outside caterers who came to the hall and cooked and served the food.  It was lovely.  This is my Mum who is always well turned out sporting the latest in Christmas Cracker hats.
Thursday was quilting night and here is a selection of sample quilting techniques which we will be attempting this term.  I struggle to keep up with the others so don't be surprised if I don't get to the stage of show casing my own examples.

My teacher Helen is amazing.  She has made all these herself and they look even more vibrant in real life. The quilt is in pieces at the moment.

I love going to this class and even if I don't get round to doing all the different types of applique in person I will still get the tuition and if in the future I do get more time I will be able to put this new found knowledge to good use.

In the meantime I can dream of being skilled enough to achieve such master pieces.

New Interests

Since Christmas and my super Dior present from Joe and Heather I have found a brand new interest.  I have always loved makeup and can remember getting in to trouble for wearing eye-shadow back in junior school.  The problem is when you get busy with life you sometimes forget and also miss what's out there, and before you know it you are totally out of touch.  Now I know that there is much more important stuff out there than sticking a bit of lipstick on.  However, I also feel that taking care of your appearance is a fantastic way of expressing your own creativity. 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to have a makeup make over at the Benefits counter in Boots.  It wasn't planned but it was such an enjoyable experience that I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn about new products.  I realise that this is a way for companies to encourage people to buy their products but as I intended to anyway I felt that I was getting value for money at the same time.
Above is my haul from the past week.
The eye pencil and the pore refiner are Benefit products.  The eye makeup is from Claire's.  This was a recommendation on the Internet and for £4.50 for a pallet of ten eye colours is extremely reasonable.  I tried them today and  I was very impressed.  The colours were really vibrant.  I haven't tried all the colours yet but on the face of it they seem great.
Just in case you think I've completely lost the plot here are a couple of pictures to bring us back down to earth.

This is the Bow Tie table runner I made for my mum for Christmas.  It took forever but she loved it which is all that matters.

The squares were sewn together by hand so that I could get it done on the move.  The triangles were then added with machine stitching.  Everything was then machine quilted just to keep it altogether and to attach the backing and finally the border was stitched on and hand finished.
This is the most ambitious project I have done so far and I must admit it was hard to part with it.  

My quilting class starts again on Thursday so it will be exciting to find out what will be next.

Happy New Year

I can't believe that it's the 2nd January 2012 already.  Happy New Year to you all and I hope you have had a great time.  Not the worse for wear at all.  I intend to get cleaned up once things are back to normal and will be returning to Weight Watchers before too long.
Was Santa good to you?  I do hope so. I was very happy with my lot and in particular this.

This was a present from Joe and Heather.  I have never had any makeup quite so special.  It is absolutely gorgeous and looks just as lovely on as it does in the packaging.  It's a highlighter/blusher and gives skin a real glow.  It's amazing.  The only thing is I now have the urge to buy all new make-up including brushes and can see this new found passion rendering me bankrupt.
Heather has told me about lots of You Tube videos which show a novice like me how to apply makeup like the experts and I now realise just how far behind the times I really am.  I'm loving re-learning the basics and feel so much more confident.  Funny how a bit of eye shadow can work wonders for your self esteem.
Another present I love is this little silver charm bracelet from my husband.

Unfortunately on Christmas Day Steve managed to buy me a gold necklace and ear-rings set that I already had so we popped back to the jewellers to change it and this was what I got instead.  The gingerbread man I chose because I liked it and I like baking.  The other is a pair of scissors because I am a hairdresser (in my spare time). I'm really glad he made the mistake because I don't think he would have known to pick this for me so it all worked out well in the end.
Just before I go I thought I would let you see my little niece Mya.  She is the most beautiful little baby who was not such a happy bunny on her last visit.  She did cut her first tooth on Christmas Day though so we now realise why she was making such a fuss.

Have a great day and I'll speak to you soon x