Carlton in Lindrick flower show and garden inspiration

Its been all go at Needlecraft Corner but today I was determined to have a little bit of me time and check in with you all.

It's strange but lately I seem to be getting a lot more visitors from the United States.  I'm not sure why this should be other than there is another business called the same name other than that maybe you lovely americans just want to get a bit of information about how we brits are doing.  Who knows?  It's great and amazing to think that my humble little blog reaches people all over the world.
Anyhow back to what I've been up to.  The website has been relaunched and is much better than the old one. Click here to take a look Although getting to grips with it has been a bit of a nightmare and there are still things that I am not happy with.  I give the impression that I know what I'm doing but in reality I'm a novice but I am getting better every day.

My lovely Mum is in hospital again.  She is 93 and gets more frail every day.  She is a battler though and is so positive she is an inspiration to us all.
I have been busy promoting the shop and am running a new workshop on the 25th July 2017.  This is a needle felting class and costs £15.00 to attend.

All are welcome but I have had to insist on a £5.00 deposit to ensure attendance.  I have been caught out before!
In addition we have been working on the garden and have had some lovely potatoes and cabbages.

The peas, beans, sweetcorn, beetroot, radishes and rocket are yet to grow big enough to harvest.  Our ultimate goal in life is to own our own small holding but at the moment we only have a small, small, small holding at the back of our house.

We visited the mill in Carlton in Lindrick recently.  They were holding their annual flower festival.  The garden in front of the mill was gorgeous and is now my inspiration for our own little plot.

Caudwell, Durham

Well last week we went on our holidays to Hillcrest Park in Caudwell.  This is a lovely farm with cottages, touring caravan facilities and camping pods.  We actually went last year and enjoyed it so much we decided that as we hadn't seen everything we would go back again.
The weather last week was amazing for the time of year and so that made our holiday even more special.  This time we were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary too which was lovely.

The scenery in this area is breathtaking and we were able to get to Stanhope which is about a half hour drive from where we were staying.

The scenery as we drove back to Barnard Castle was surprising as we hadn't realised when we set off exactly what to expect.
These photos were taken from the car and I couldn't help but imagine how a felted picture would look with all the lovely shading and muted colours.  Mmm definitely something to consider in the future.

Felting

I am relatively new to needle felting and actually taught myself with the aid of Pinterest tutorials.
It was a lovely friend and customer who encouraged me to start a small class which began on a similar line to my knit and natter groups.

The beginning of a new creation

Basically we just got together and learnt the brand new techniques from a total novice level and over time our skills have developed.  I like trying different things every week where others may concentrate on one thing until they have exhausted the possibilities.

Wet felted bowl with free form machine embroidery

In my previous post I showed you what I had achieved in the weeks starting just before Christmas.  It was very satisfying to be able to give a few members of my family hand felted gifts that showed that I cared and show cased my growing talents.

Since then my love of needle felting and wet felting has grown considerably and I look forward with anticipation to our Monday morning get togethers.

Heart shaped landscape

We have an absolute ball and some of the disasters that are bound to happen from time to time have had us in stitches.

Completed Projects

It's been ages since I showed you my finished projects mostly because many were gifts for Christmas as of course if I had shown you it would have spoilt the surprise for my nearest and dearest family and friends.  Anyway without further ado here goes:

A chunky cardigan greatly appreciated by my son's partner Steph.

A super chunky jumper given to my mother in law for Christmas.  I love how this turned out and will give this another try.

A sample for the shop knitted in James C Brett marble chunky.  A pattern I have done many times and love it's simplicity.

A birthday present for my Mum who loves getting cosy underneath it.  This pattern can be found as a tutorial on line.

A little embroidery and applique picture which I am still to complete even though it was meant to be a quick job.

A holiday project made for my Mum instead of bringing her something back that she wouldn't really want.  This is a pattern taken from Attic 24 and is her jolly chunky bag.

A cardigan made for an order using the Sirdar pattern in the picture.  This was great to do and  I would gladly make this again in the future.

A Christmas present for my Mum using a pattern for the weekend bag from Attic 24.  It was so easy to make.  I have one too!

The easiest shawl ever and a absolute dream to make.  I will post the pattern soon.  This was given to my friend for her birthday earlier this month and she loved it.  She is very much in to lets say, the murkier colour choices.

Well I hope you liked my round up of the latter quarter of 2016's makes.  I always work better under pressure and seem to get everything done despite my self doubts.

A new year and a new craft

Hello and a very happy new year to you all.
I feel like I should apologise for not posting in such a long time but as this is what I always seem to be doing lately I'm going to skip it and get on with what I've been up to.
Over the past few weeks I have been learning how to do needle felting which I hadn't done before but always fancied, mainly because it looks so creative and there is so much that you can do within what is quite an inexpensive craft.  Anyway it started when a couple of ladies determined to learn needle felting came to the shop and asked if I did lessons.  Obviously I didn't but suggested that if they came along and paid a very nominal amount I would not only learn with them but provide guidance where needed.  Since then it has blossomed and I now run lessons on a one to one basis and have a group booked in in early February which is very exciting.
So far these are a few of the things I have made.

The Wren I gave to my husband for Christmas as wrens are his favourite bird.  The dog was supposed to look like Millie, Steve's Nana's dog.  She loved it. The sheep is mine and is displayed in the shop and the picture will eventually be framed and put in the lounge.
I am really pleased with the results of my first efforts and have found a new craft that I can develop and enjoy for years to come.