Friday 27 November 2020

This week's smiles....week 398

Hello all and a very happy Friday Smiles to each and every one of you.  Every week is different here for me.  Last week I had no customers at all and this week they have been bringing / sending me lots of sewing jobs....everything from shortening trousers and coat sleeves to making many Memory bears and even an elephant.  At least last week's lull meant I could get my head down and get all my Christmas cards made so I used my time well.

I have a couple of photo smiles to share with you...





Here is our little Theo enjoying forest school....He's growing up so fast now.



Shell has been home recovering from Covid [sadly it's taking much longer than she hoped!] and while she's been at home she's sent me a few photos....from the top

  • Jet wearing her Christmas jumper
  • The Christmas tree in their sitting room that they have put inside a playpen so it will survive Jet!
  • The windowsill in the playroom has now got their nativity scene out for Christmas and one of the children has put their Lego campervan alongside it....we have had a chuckle about it....these campervans get everywhere don't they?




That's my lot for this week.  I hope you are all keeping safe and well and have lots to smile about....please share below.
Hugs,
Annie x

Wednesday 25 November 2020

WOYWW.....

 What a difference a week makes eh?  Last week I had no customers at all so I worked hard with making my Christmas cards and now think I've made enough for this year....


I've made 60 cards in 7 different designs.  Some are appliqued, some are machine embroidered, some are hand embroidered and some are made using 1" squares of different Christmas fabrics.  I've made them in batches and really enjoyed being creative.




Monday started a whole new week.  I have..
  • Shortened 4 pair of trousers
  • Shortened the sleeves on a gent's coat
  • Cut out the Memory bear [left] ready to make it this morning and..
  • Hopefully the clothes to make 3 more Memory bears and a Memory elephant will be arriving in the post today.....so that should keep me busy for the rest of this week.



That's all I have to share with you today so if you leave me a little hello message so I know you've called in I will do my best to pop over to yours later [I did my best last week and think I popped in to see most of you].
I hope you're all keeping busy and staying safe and happy.
Hugs,
Annie x


Friday 20 November 2020

This week's smiles....week 397

 The weeks are flying by and we are fast nearing week 400 of my happy posts...what a lot of smiles we have shared.  Many thanks to those who come back each week to join in the fun.  Life in this world we are living really can't get enough smiles so please keep up the good work.

These are my smiles for this week...



Lexi and Sam have been writing their letters to Father Christmas...I just love the concentration on their faces.



Amy has been snapping a few special photos of her three this week and she always shares them with me....aren't they just gorgeous?....I love the way Betsy puppy has just fitted in the family so well.



This photo made me chuckle.  The twins have built themselves a fort in the bay window with blankets.  We have always loved making dens on wet, indoor play days and it's lovely to see the fun is carried on to the next generation.....I wonder what they got up to in there?


While working at the kitchen table Shell's dog Jet wanted to get in on the fun...but what has she found on the computer?  She looked surprised so I'm hoping it's not a porn site  :-) :-)


I hope you have enjoyed my smiles for this week.

Stay safe and well and keep smiling.

Hugs,

Annie x

Wednesday 18 November 2020

WOYWW...

 Happy Wednesday all. Here we are, yet again, at the best day of the week when we all link up with creative desks all around the world.  I've had very little sewing from customers this week so I've been making the best of the break and been making a start with my Christmas cards.  My desks and tables are all full to over flowing with crafty goodies so I'm just quickly going to show you what I've been busy with...


The sewing machine has been well used and there has been lots of 'push back' been going on to have room to sew....even the box of metallic threads is out today.

It wasn't a good start as I sewed 2 of the toppers together and had to unpick the machine embroidery stitch!!



The results of the sewing is piled up on my cutting station....there's 20 in the one pile and 6 little Bethlehem scenes in the other pile.


I have even had the glass paints out and done a couple on laminated sheets....but half the glass paints have been thrown out and the rest were put away in disgust because either I couldn't open the tops or the paint was drying up so won't be doing any more like these.





So that's all from me for today....I have many more cards to make yet so I hope my Christmas mojo comes soon so I can get them done. Any ideas are welcome on a postcard :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

Friday 13 November 2020

This week's smiles....week 396

The weeks are flying by aren't they?  It will be Christmas before we know it so I really must get my act into gear and make some Christmas cards some time soon.....need to find my Christmas mojo first though.  I have enjoyed making outfits for a little visitor I had this week though...you can see the results in my Wednesday post if you want a chuckle....I'm completely mad but I love creating to make my Grandchildren smile.

I've a few more pics to share with you of the things that have made me smiles this week too...




Sam now has lessons on his electric guitar and his new drums.....I think he really looks the part.

I'm just glad I don't live next door. :-)





The twins helped their mum and dad make their Christmas cake this week...it turned out well but was rather thirsty when cooked because I believe it's already drank a good amount from a bottle of brandy already :-)





Our latest little family member, Betsy, has settled in well and she follows her big sister everywhere. :-)



And finally I thought I would share a collage of the photos I took out in our garden yesterday.  There is still lots of gorgeous colours out there making us smile.

I hope you are all staying safe and well and coping with what ever stage of lockdown you're in right now.

Hugs,

Annie x

Wednesday 11 November 2020

WOYWW...

 Hello all I have a little bit of Nanny Annie madness on my desk to share with you this week.  Every year the twins have a visit from Bob their Elf on the shelf during December so this year he has visited Nanny early so he [and all his friends] can be fitted out with different outfits. ....




Bob arrived on Monday and helped me make 6 little face masks so he and his friends will be safe from the virus.

Do bear in mind I have no patterns for any of his outfits and they really just come out of my wild imagination.




He came with several requests.  The first of which was a gingerbread man outfit.




He then asked for a snowman outfit so out came the white felt. A hat, a bit of ribbon and a couple of buttons and hey presto!





Next was a kilt for him and a couple more for two of his friends.  He rather liked this one.




He then asked me to make a grass skirt for his wife Betty as a surprise for her.  She could really do with a top made out of a couple of shells but I haven't found any as yet.....update...I've found some and now just need to work out how to make a top with them lol.






Finally he asked for a doughnut outfit so of course out came the seeding beads....yes I'm mad but I know it will put a smile on the twins faces.



The other thing I was asked to make was a tiny dog's bed because apparently Bob is bringing his new puppy with him this year too :-)


I hope you have enjoyed your visit and I've left you smiling.  We need smiles more than ever at the moment so why not find a few smiles and join in on Friday when I find smiles to share with you all.

Hugs,

Annie x

Friday 6 November 2020

This week's smiles...week 395

 It's been one of those weeks when I've had to go searching for smiles to share because I've had an UTI and it's taken the wind out of my sails for a few days.  It wasn't helped that when I rang our surgery they said they had had a few cases of Covid there and were very short staffed so I took myself off to the chemist instead.  They gave me treatment but said if things didn't improve I should contact the surgery again for antibiotics....they didn't help much sadly so I did as I was told and now have antibiotics...fingers crossed they do the job soon.

So here's my round up of smiles I can share...



We have completed the jigsaw puzzle I was given for my birthday...the lovely thing has been that each of the grandchildren has done a bit when they have visited.

You will notice the top pic is what was on the box but the actual jigsaw was of what happened next so very different to the pic....it was real fun to do.



We have a new little fur baby in the family.  Meet Betsy...she is actually Poppy's half sister....same mum but black lab was her dad.  She's just gorgeous and has already settled in very well.



Hubby treated  us to the local theatre last Friday to see The Secret garden film.  As you can see they had put crosses on all the seats not to be used to keep us all socially distanced.  There were far more crosses than people but it was so lovely to go out and feel very safe.  It was a brilliant film too.



This is Phoebe sitting at the desk her mum and dad have bought her for her birthday today....she's 12!!!

Looking very grown up too don't you think?




This is my last pic for this week ...just to make you giggle.  Milly really doesn't like fireworks and I've seen that putting a chopped off sock over their ears helps reduce stress.  This was actually her little jumper folded back on itself and it did seem to help....but she was having none of it of course and it was back off 5 minutes later.



I hope you are all staying safe and well and will share your smiles by linking up below. 

Hugs,

Annie x

Wednesday 4 November 2020

WOYWW...

 Hello folks.  The first thing I must do is to say sorry for the lack of visits last week.  Probably the best way to explain why is to tell/ show you what I've done since writing my WOYWW post for last week.

  • I have made 9 Memory bears
  • I've made a special order of 10 three layered face masks
  • I've shortened 3 dresses
  • I've shortened 3 pair of trousers and 
  • I've finished another advent calendar
Not to mention having Thursday afternoon off to spend it with Phoebe and Lulu crafting and creating.  [If you want to see what we made look in the post below] I've worked all over the weekend too to get it all done to hopefully clear my desks before the next lockdown.

So I hope you will forgive me for the lack of visits...work just got in the way.  Here's a few pics to show you the results...




Here's the first 3 Memory bears...made in memory of a very special Dad and Grandad.



Here's the next 5 Memory bears that arrived with the other 3 on Wednesday....made in memory of a life long best friend.




This is the 9th Memory bear of my week that arrived on Friday...made in memory of a much loved Mum /Grandma to be given as a gift for Christmas.


These are the 10 three layered face masks I was asked to make for a dentist....tricky sewing through all the layers over the pleats and I actually broke a couple of needles making these.




The latest advent calendar I have completed...I've got a couple more I'd like to make but I guess I may have plenty of time during the next lockdown.

It's been a busy week for me but as you can imagine when I've got work to do I have to get it done as I never know what's coming through my door next.




I'm hoping to have rather more time to visit my blogging friends and leave a few messages this week.  I hope you are all staying safe and well.
Hugs,
Annie x