The Sampler

I've told you already, I know, about the treasure I collect every time I visit my Mum. last time it was the vintage patterns; the time before it was a blackwork sampler.

Mum had worked on it for as long as her hands would let her; but it wasn't finished and she wondered if I'd like to take it on. It's a lovely thing, striking in its monotone simplicity and its beautiful stitching. I've laundered it and looked at it, and thought about the "join" which will surely show. And then I've realised what a good thing that join will be. The work of two generations in one sampler? That's a story in itself.

Yes, it's teal and black and white again. With more rosettes because I'm still loving them; and the 1 2 3 title worked on the paper in cross stitch

Today's layout is brought to you with the help of Gotta Craft's May kit which is filled with Lily Bee's "This and That". I made two more pages with these beautiful papers; and you will find them on the Gotta Craft Blog right here

We're Off to Join the Circus

When The Small One was a very little girl, she had a t-shirt with the legend "I'm Off To Join The Circus"

printed on the front. It was an excellent kind of a t-shirt, because you could wear it when you were happy (and thought a bit of trapeze sounded fun); and you could wear it when you were sad and thinking about running away from home. It always worked.

We've been thinking about that t-shirt as we've been working on our felt circus. See,  The Small One liked the felt farm so much, she thought she might like a felt something of her very own. And when Jemma suggested a joint project, I said - Genius! and we made a start.





You've already had a peep at the lion in Sian on Safari. He was getting a bit boisterous, so I've made him a cage:

The film is set in the 1930's - it looks like my Buggabugs pattern from Etsy will give us exactly the right look

The Small One is on elephant duty at the moment. It was slow going, to be honest, until I showed her the pictures of Robert Pattinson's animal training act for the new movie Water For Elephants. Mmm..R. Patz modelled entirely from craft felt?  Remember - you heard it here first..

And my caged lion is this month's entry for Annie The Felt Fairy's Monthly Make. The Big Top, The Ring Of Fire, the clown, the monkey? - all in production. At a blog near you soon.

One Farm. Finished.

Just squeezing in there before the end of the month, I've finished the felt farm.

The barn in the background

I love how it turned out and I'll definitely be returning to Bugga Bugs for more patterns (mmm..felt food..) - the instructions are excellent: clear and detailed with plenty of photos.

The barn unfolded to show the inside

And I was able to use up lots of little scraps of felt. The finished farm cube measures just about seven inches square. To be honest, Little E is probably still a bit too little to play with it (it has buttons and elastic holding it together); so it will be going on a high shelf for a while I think. "Mmm," said The Small One when she heard this. "I think I could probably do with a felt farm.."

Psst! Don't forget: Storytelling Sunday next week, the first Sunday in February. Have a think and come up with a tale to tell. No layout, craft project or added extras required. Just you and a few words...

It's A Farm - But You Mustn't Tell

Ssshh! I'm making a felt farm for Little E, but it's a secret..

At the minute the outside still looks like this:

and the animals to go inside still look like a big pile of felt scraps, but I'm sewing as fast as I can. I bought the pattern from Bugga Bugs - an Etsy shop discovered by my scrapping friend Helen, it's now one of my favourite places to browse. When I've finished the farm I think I might move on to The Three Little Pigs, or the Noah's Ark, or some felt food, or..any of it really. The patterns come as PDF's and the instructions are extremely easy to follow. Highly recommended.  

I'm racing to get the farm finished before the end of the month, so that it can become my project for this:

Annie The Felt Fairy's Monthly Make Challenge, which you can read all about here. One project a month - let's give it a go! Annie says she used to do a lot of scrapbooking - maybe if we work on her, we can persuade her back to the fold...

A Christmas Catch All

I'm opening up the doors and letting Christmas in completely at High In The Sky. Over the weekend I sewed two of the three felt ornaments from this years Rosy Little Things kit. The final one - a cross stitched grey mitten - uses waste canvas, and I've come a bit unstuck with it. I know the theory, it's just the practice. I think I need more.

I love the grey, red and white colour scheme (and especially that red felt coat. I'd like a grownup version, please). It seems very fresh this year, like the new Jenni Bowlin line I'm hoping will arrive here soon.

As you can probably tell, I'm having a bit of a fling with felt at the moment. I found these you might like:

• Family Circle easy felt makes. Be sure to click on "next" for the instructions (found via Felt-O-Rama)
• Twisted Felt Garland at Purl Bee. It needs some really long strips of felt - but the necklace or bracelet would be much quicker and cheaper to try!

(See also here, if you missed my felt-y links a couple of weeks ago)

And I've been eyeing up some sturdy shoe-coloured pieces because, as a couple of you suggested on Sunday, those children need a new home. I'm so glad that you enjoyed Christmas Club this week; and I'm delighted that so many of you are thinking of joining in. I'm going to see if I can add a linky thing so that you can add your own posts next week.

But, please. No stress. A simple memory of a treasured moment is more than good enough. Maybe it's happy, maybe it's poignant. Most celebrations in most houses are a mixture of both. And that's why it always bothers me a little when magazines urge us to have our "best Christmas ever". Surely it doesn't have to be that. All many of us hope for is a happy few hours with time for laughter and time for being quiet with people we love. So, when I'm choosing my gifts (and hoping they are the right ones); putting my turkey in the oven (and hoping it comes out nicely cooked); and setting out for a Carol Service (and hoping for the tunes I know the best), I'll be thinking about this:

It came to me as a giveaway gift recently from the lovely Laurie at One Black Bird. If you are getting ready for Thanksgiving or thinking ahead to Christmas, you might like to keep it in mind. And I'll see you back here very soon.

A Few "F"'s For Fursday

From High In The Sky today I am:

• Fantasizing about an hour curled up with a book this afternoon. Instead we are off to the orthodontist (wish us luck)
• Fielding a clutch of questions all beginning with  "At Christmas, when I get my hamster.."
• Finding Folksy easier to navigate than Etsy
• Ferretting through the fashion at a favourite new blog That's Not My Age. For the ahem,(slightly) more mature among us
• Feeling just a little bit foxy in my new cord dress
• Fessing up to feeling slightly tearful, but very thankful, every time I think about the blog hop. Still. Thank you to everyone for your comments and mentions and everything.
• Flying a flag (alright then, a banner) for Kate of Liberty Cottage who is the winner of my blog giveaway. Please get in touch Kate and I'll put it in the post.

Since I finished my little banner, I've been thinking about sewing some more felt. So I've searched out my favourite felty finds and here they are:

• a nice tutorial for felt trees at Allsorts
• Feltorama has lots of makes and links to other felt fans as well as a shop
• Bugs and Fishes for tutorials and felt to buy - her service is excellent
• Or you could try The Felt Fairy - her blog is fun
• Betz White has some lovely tutorials like this Christmas ornament
• And finally Fa La La La Felt - a book on my Christmas list this year I think

Whatever you are up to this Thursday - have a good one!

Paper Applique

When I first started scrapbooking I did a lot of stitching on my pages. Then I started trying out other things - misting and painting - but I always come back to sewing in the end. This week I've been trying out a paper applique effect:

I haven't actually stitched the paper on, I just sewed very close to the edge and it's a look I like. It does take a bit of time but I'd definitely love to do some more. I have an idea forming for a page without photos, using only appliqued paper and leaving plenty of space for journaling. And with Shimelle's journaling class coming up, room for the writing is going to be essential in the next couple of weeks, yes?

Today I'm Loving...a tip someone passed on recently. If you are using canvas bags for your groceries these days - remember to give them a good hot machine wash regularly. It stops germs from lurking.

The Dinky Donuts

So, the very day I get my lenses sorted out for fine sewing I go into my needlework box and, at the bottom of it, I find a tiny piece of cross stitch I did many years ago (I think the chart was from Jo Verso's World Of Cross Stitch

It looked a bit lost and unloved, so I had a think about what I could use it for and I decided to add it to a page about donuts and to give that page a 4th July theme. I have other stories about donuts (which of course I should be spelling doughnuts, but sometimes you run out of "g"s, you know?) because round here we know them as "gravy rings" and...but that's for another day. Today's page is dedicated to my American readers with wishes for a Happy Fourth July. Have a good one!