Nautical Cushions

An order for some nautical cushions for a friend of mine. I used scraps of fabric, cotton and felt I had lying around and I must say, I was quite pleased with the result. I do so enjoy the stitching and find it really theraputic. Felt is really easy to work with because it doesn't fray and is easy to cut into shapes.Some fishy tags to complete the package. I'm not really a fan of orange and am not sure why I bought it in the first place! Who knows what was going on in my head at the time!

Happy Valentines Day

 Wishing you a Happy Valentines Day!

A collage/patchwork heart made using printed fabric combined with an embroidered shell. A few beads for added decoration!

Treasury

Thanks so much to Kinga from Amuleta Hu  for including me in her treasury. www.etsy.com/treasury/MjE5OTI3Njl8MjcyMDkxOTE3NQ/only-op-art I love all the wonderful 'op art' designs,especially the black and white combos!

I haven't posted anything for almost 6 months and I feel as though some explanation is due! The truth is I have been working for an organization that works in the field of education. This is an area that is experiencing great difficulties in South Africa at the moment. I am involved in a project called 'Literacy and Numeracy Enrichment' which is self explanatory. I work mainly with Grade 1 learners who come to school without the basic necessary skills such as a knowledge of cutting, shapes, basic numeracy, sounds letters etc.
 The programme has been developed by an Occupational Therapist and so we do a fair amount of work developing gross and fine motor skills, visual perception etc. A lot of things that are taken for granted by parents of children who are brought up in 'priviledged' homes!
I do enjoy the work but it is extremely demanding and I just haven't had time to work on keeping my shop and blog updated. Anything creative has also taken a bit of a backseat and I am only doing what is absolutely necessary in that department. I do still look at other peoples blogs and really do admire the effort they put into them!  I will however try to blog more than once every six months!

Music ribbon bows

 I did some invitations for a music themed wedding a while ago and now I am working on the decorations.The bows are for the end of the pews in the church. All you need is some ribbon (preferably with wire along the edges),thin wire, wire cutters and scissors.

 Most importantly....the instructions....which I found here

Happy Easter!

Homemade hot cross buns to light up a dull and rainy day!

Another Party!

Another party.... this time at home. My son, who is studying to be a chef at Silwood School of Cookery, had to make a 3 course meal for 8 as part of his holiday project. This is the result!

A starter of caramalized onion tartlets (delicious!) with rocket, melon and parma ham salad.

Main course of lamb noisettes, roasted veg and duchess potatoes with mushy pea puree and bordelaise sauce.This isn't the best representation of this course because in all the rush of getting the meal served he forgot to take a picture, so this is a re-creation the next day.

Dessert of poached pears with custard sauce.
We also had homemade bread rolls, cheese straws and spiced almonds.Having only been at chef school for 8 weeks, all in all a pretty good effort!

Party time!

A 50th Birthday and a 21st!
Time for reflection on friends and how fast the time goes by! We met when we moved into our first houses 25 years ago. We discovered that we had both been married on the same day in1984 and bought our first houses in the same road. Our first children, mine a boy hers a girl, were born 4 months apart ....those children are now 21!

This is her daughter's 21st celebration.

The story doesn't end there...... our second children, both boys, were born on the same day!

Cause for celebration I think.