Knitted Barbie Outfits

First of all I would like to apologise for my disappearance from blog land for pretty much the whole of April! Between impromptu trips to Suffolk to see family and my latest assignment (not to mention a certain little boy's third birthday) it's all been a bit hectic here!
However I do have some lovely photos for you.  Whiles't on our impromptu trip, my mother in law gave my daughter enough outfits for her Barbie to fill a wardrobe. These have all been knitted following patterns found on Ravelry and using bits and pieces of yarn that she had in her stash.

Purple top and skirt

A girls gotta have undies!

Cute!

Accesories

Accesories

Dungarees

Handy Handbag

If that wasn't enough, this next outfit needs several photos because so much work has gone into it.  Barbie has a beautiful wedding dress with added lace, ribbon and veil!!

Since the mini fashion show that produced these photos, Nanny Buff (as she has been named by my three year old)has actually knitted even more! So there will be more photos to come!

Storage Solutions

At Christmas I was a very spoilt wife. Amongst other things I got a gorgeous box full of lovely smelly Lush bath things. Now these are a real treat for me and I have eaked them out and used them sparingly when I've needed a treat but last week I used my last Bubble Bar. Which was sad but it does mean I now have this empty tin.

Which is going to find a new home with the rest of my "Craft Stuff"! I love putting things like this to use again. I keep all my cross stitch threads in an Irregular Choice shoe box and have bits and bobs in the Radley drawstring bag that the actual bag came in. (That wasn't this Christmas but my hubby does spoil me bless him!!)What do you guys keep your craft stuff in? Or is everyone out there slightly less mishmash than me? 

A Little Cross Stitch Pacman

This is just a quick post that does what is says on the tin. Here is a little cross stitch pacman that I made for my brother's birthday

I got him this pacman alarm clock for his birthday:

 Which he thought was hilarious, he probably finds it less so now that he has to wake up to "WackaWackaWackaWacka" each morning.But I thought that I would make him a little something to go with it and he has been reading a lot more recently so I thought I would make a little book mark for him. 

I got the pattern for the Pacman and ghost from Sprite Stitch and I think it's quite cute! 

Handmade iPad Case

My Uncle turned 40 this month, I'm sure he won't mind me sharing that with you...hmm..anyway..I knew that my Aunt was trying to raise funds from friends and family to get him an iPad so I thought I would make him a case for it. Now this is trickier than it originally sounds because my Aunt is actually a very accomplished seamstress. So my Uncle is going to be used to sewn products actually looking quite good and without the dodgy stitching that normally accompanies my attempts. So I thought for once I would actually follow a tutorial properly instead of trying to do my own thing and I am really proud of the results:

 Unfortunately I haven't got an iPad to model this case, so the photos of it are of it empty. However I have been assured that this is the right size and fits well!

 The lining is red felt and the stitching has come out really neatly.  I have slowed down with the machine and it is turning out a lot more even and straight.

I did originally have a different button and ribbon but unfortunately the dog got hold of them and they are no more.  Luckily I had these in my stash that really suited the fabric.
Also my Uncle is (possibly)and even bigger Terry Pratchett fan than I am and after racking my brains I finally managed to find the perfect quote for the case...

The tutorial that I followed was one that I found at The Cottage Home.  It is a really easy tutorial to follow and has a photo for each stage. Also she has managed to get the tone of the tutorial just right - it gives all the information you need for each step without sounding patronizing.  Also the tutorial works for laptops and tablets as it gives you directions to figure out the dimensions that you need for your case to fit your item.
So Thank You Cottage Mama!

Liebster Blog Award!

Lovely Sue over at SuesStitching has awarded me the Liebster blog award! Wow! 

This Award is given by bloggers to other new bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to help spread the word about their blogs and to help them gain wider recognition. Liebster is a German word meaning dearest, favourite or beloved so I feel quite honoured to get this.
The Liebster award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting:
1. Choose 5 up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blog so they know about the award.
4. Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you. 

Now I've had computer issues this week and haven't been able to get on, and came back to over 80 posts to read on my reader, so you can see how many blogs I read, so this is going to be difficult, but I have chosen my 5 blogs to award this to!!!

1. Pendle Stitches This is my Aunt's blog, who is ridiculously creative in so many ways and is a great inspiration for all crafty peeps!  This blog has been about her sewing, knitting and also about her journey through the adoption process!
2. Slik Stitches Benta at Slik Stitches is absolutely lovely!I've followed this blog for ages now and she creates some absolutely beautiful quilts among other things!
3. Tiny Angry Crafter This was a must - Carla again is really lovely and let me loose to do a guest post on her blog - very sweet knitted stuff created here!
4. Carolyn's Stitches I couldn't give these awards out without giving one to Carolyn. She makes the cutest cross stitch patterns, and is another gamey geek (I hope she doesn't mind me saying that!)
5. Ramblings of a Biscornu Addict Kerry loves cross stitching, embroidery and sewing and her blog is gorgeous!!!

So please go and check out these lovely ladies!

Right - five random facts about me!?!

1. I am an avid follower of Formula 1, my daughter (5) actually watches with me and cheers for Jenson Button with me!
2. I am a bookworm.  I always have been (comes from being a librarian's daughter!) and have read more books than I care to remember and one of my favorite authors is Terry Pratchett.
3. I was brought up in the air force and have lived in 13 different houses.
4. I love shoes and handbags (I might have mentioned the handbags thing a few times)
5. I play the piano

Threads!

My lovely hubby is unfortunately working on Sunday, so as a treat he took me and the kids to Hobbycraft on tuesday, and not only bought me the particular thread I needed - but bought the rest of the threads I need aswell!Yay!

DMC threads

You have got to love a man that will happily spend money on threads! (I use the term happily, rather loosely, but he did and he offered!) There were about 12 colours I needed all together and there was only 1 out of stock. Having bought a couple of threads here and there as and when needed, I am now getting a lovely little collection of DMC threads, next I need to organize them....Organization isn't really my strong point, but next on the list of craft stuff that is needed is going to be a nice little thread box.
Aside from this we then went wandering and I came away with this gorgeous mixing bowl aswell!

I feel very "betty crocker" with a proper ceramic mixing bowl like this but I do enjoy baking and the family enjoy my baking (most of the time) so all is well.
I have an update of the charity quilt block that I am working on, which is starting to look like something a bit more than a block of purple now. However you will have to excuse the shoddy photograph, I know that decent photography is the first rule in Craft Blogging but the nice camera has ran out of battery and I'm not entirely sure where the battery charger is....Will be round here somewhere - but in the mean time I have my phone's camera....

Quitting

Yup, that say quitting, not quilting unfortunately.

I am quitting smoking.

And it is a lot harder than I first thought it would be.
I know why I should.
I know it is a terrible filthy bad habit.
But unfortunately it's just not that easy.  

I ummed and arhed about whether to post about this, but in the end I decided that if it is up here then it is another place that has evidence that I am trying to do this. And more people that know if I fail and I want to make it as difficult as possible to fail! 
So to any of my friends and family out there - I apologize in advance for the fact that I am going to be irritable and grumpy and snappy - because I am. But it will only be for a little while, hopefully.