OFF WE GO AGAIN...HOORAY!!

Morning everyone, and what a stunning morning it is here.
Although we had a hard frost last night, this morning the sun is glorious. It really makes you feel so much better.
Mind you we cant really complain about this weekend at all. I was actually sat in a lovely garden drinking a glass of wine yesterday afternoon, so perhaps things will start to warm up a little now...though I'm not holding my breath.
This weekend has been very quiet for us just pottering about at home and so I thought I would share one of our first real outings of  2011 with you.

Last weekend we drove here

 Hardwick Hall..one of the most significant Elizabethan country houses still in existence. Designed by Robert Smythson in the 16th century for 'Bess of Hardwick', Countess of Shrewsbury and ancestress of the Dukes of Devonshire. The house remained in the same family until it was handed over to H M Treasury in 1956 in lieu of estate duties. The Treasury passed the property to The National Trust in 1959.
The house was a real statement for a woman whose wealth was second only to Queen Elizabeth I herself, and in a time when glass was a luxury led to the saying 'Hardwick Hall more glass than wall.'

 It is a stunning if rather dark house to visit with many exquisite fireplaces and amazing tapestries..

Despite the gloomy light (due not only to the dark walls and furnishings, but necessary to protect its treasures from sunlight) it's not hard to imagine the richness of the original fabrics. You are allowed to take photographs without flash, (so apologies for the poor quality of some of mine), but I think you can still get a flavour of this incredible place.

...just imagine the hours of sewing to produce drapes like these......

This bed is in the 'Mary Queen of Scots' room...unfortunately she was beheaded before the Hall was built.....!

The state dining room....

Outside there are beautiful formal gardens, a kitchen garden and lovely promenades....

and the whole place is surrounded by breathtaking parkland, which we didn't have time to explore and will mean another visit later in the summer......

That will definitely be a perfect time to bring a picnic and my walking boots! Situated in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside not far from Chesterfield it is a place well worth a visit....

Well this has been a bit of a marathon post but I do hope you have enjoyed the tour, and I'm glad to say that now that our beautiful country appears to be opening again there will be many more trips like this to share.

Have a wonderful week, I am off now to finish those new cushions....

TTFN

Jenny xx

THANK YOU POSTIE....AND MY GIVEAWAY WINNERS........

Evening all.....
ooh sound like Dixon of Dock Green there....Ok there will be some of you who will remember him! (surely!!!!)

Two lovely things to blog about this evening , and apologies for being a bit late with the first...

Mr or at least at the moment Mrs Postie brought me two super parcels last week.....

The first was a surprise win from Alix at used-to-bees. 
I have admired her travel journals and other beautiful pieces on Folksy here
and I couldn't believe my luck when this landed through my letterbox

Beautifully wrapped.....

A brilliant covered notebook...and in a Union Jack fabric...how perfect is that for me!! Appliqued with copies of old travel posters....

and a great selection of other posters and signs printed onto fabric and backed with bondaweb for me to have a go myself....I am thrilled.  

Thank you so much Alix, the only thing is I forgot to keep the envelope with your address...if you don't mind would you email it to me!  I can't wait to use the appliques, I have a cushion in mind already, so will show you the result in due course.

My second parcel was from Lynn at Sea Angels
I bought some stunning rose fabric from her and it arrived like this.....

How pretty is that.......and the cute little cup cake is made of decorated wood, I am tempted to add a pin and use it as a brooch!

Can't wait to use this, destined for some new cushions I think....... although its pretty enough to be a summer skirt....a la cabbages and roses..........ummmm.........  Thank you Lynn an absolute bargain!

And Finally......drum roll please.......................................

THE FLYAWAY GIVEAWAY WINNER

No.35

Random numbers generated Mar 7 2011 at 20:21:55 by www.psychicscience.org 
Free educational resources for parapsychology, psychical research & mind magic.

and No. 35 is.........  AMY from Blighty Boutique

and as I had so many lovely bloggers leave me a message, I have also picked a runner up...

No.37

Random numbers generated Mar 7 2011 at 20:23:57 by www.psychicscience.org 
Free educational resources for parapsychology, psychical research & mind magic.

No. 37 is.........BuTtOnZ from stuff-n-bits

Congratulations both of you,

Please let me have your addresses, my email is on my profile, and your feathered friends will be on their way.
I only wish I could send everyone a little something,....but  you all get my hugs for making blogging so much fun.

Off to start packing those parcels...

TTFN
Jenny xx

AREN'T BIRTHDAYS FAB WHEN YOU'RE 4

Hi blogger buddies
Hope you are all keeping well.
This last week or two has been a bit hectic at Winnibriggs Towers. Finally finished the bits for my giveaway, made my grandson a Fireman Sam outfit to wear to nursery to raise funds for a local hospice charity and celebrated his 4th birthday....

He makes a great fireman!.... coat reconstructed from charity shop mac and trousers made from waterproof kite fabric........

His birthday was actually on Monday, but as this was a nursery day, he started celebrating (and opening presents....soooo many!) on Sunday.
He had a lovely day out at Twin Lakes, with some little friends and then a birthday tea at home with the family.
His very talented mum from Giddy Kipper, (no apologies for the shameless plug there!) made him a fabulous birthday cake and it went perfectly with his table setting......

I think I can safely say he had a great time....well done mum!......
I'll be back tomorrow to show some lovely things the postie has bought, but for now..

TTFN

Jenny xx

1st ANNIVERSARY.....AND A GIVEAWAY

Well can you believe it...I missed it!!!

 The 1st anniversary of my blog was yesterday February 20th, and due to being so worn out with this blasted cold, I couldn't even face the computer. What a pig it has been, two weeks of thumping headaches, a throat so sore it felt as though I was swallowing razor blades, cold sores on my eyelids....yes you heard right, and I've coughed and sneezed so hard that I set off an old back injury and spent several days bent double, unable to stand upright.......

Picture courtesy of  britishcomedyclassics.co.uk

Two soups!!................... the irony is that for a good part of my adult life I have often been told that I am very like Julie Walters, and I have certainly felt like Mrs Overall this last week or two.

Anyway enough of my whinging, it's just a cold and there are so many much worse then me, so I will now get onto what I hope is the good bit....

To celebrate how great I think you all are and how much I have enjoyed both the writing and the reading for this past year I would like to give away a couple of bits which I have named my...

Fly away giveaway

My theme is sea birds, for no other reason than the fact that I love them, and the gift will include,  a drawstring bag and one or two bits and pieces which might be useful on your travels.......

As you can see they are not finished yet, but I will have them ready to fly by the time I draw the winner on Monday 7th March.

So if you fancy feathering your nest with a few birds (and the odd surprise), just leave me a message on this post before Sunday 6th March.

If you would like to put one of my piccies on your blog to spread the word that would be great, but not essential.

Well I'm off now to down yet another whisky toddy (shame but someone has to do it) and then to my bed.

TTFN

Jenny xx


PS. I am just adding this as I feel a real fraud with all the lovely comments of sympathy which I really do not deserve.  You are all very kind and it is really appreciated but I am on the mend now...Thank you!

JUST MESSING ABOUT......

Oops!  I appear to have been missing for a while, great intentions scuppered by boring life things, but hopefully back on track now. Which is just as well as I am fast approaching my 1st Blog Anniversary and hope to have a bit of a giveaway, but more of that later.

My first and most important item in this post is to say a big and embarassingly late thank you to both Jenevieve of Buttons, Ribbons and other things and Amy of Blighty Boutique for passing me the Stylish Blogger Award.  It is customary on these occasions to tell seven new things about yourself and pass the award on to 15 other people.  Well in truth after a year of boring the pants off you all, I don't think I have anything else of interest to recount so I will be very naughty and say if you read some of my old posts you will gather what kind of a nutcase I am, but hopefully won't hold that against me and come visit me again!
Since I follow so many brilliant blogs I would be hard pressed to name 30 of you, 'cos I like you all, or I wouldn't have followed you in the first place. You are all pretty damn stylish!
I am therefore going to highlight two blogs for no other reason than they have time and again amazed me by their ingenuity and prolific output of stylish fashion, for themselves and others, they are.......

Alexandra Mason and Kitschy Coo

Please ladies take(or not) the award, I do know that some prefer not to, but even if you don't I would just like you to know how impressed I am by your work, both quantity and quality.

Humbling apologies now over back to the title of the post.......

Do you ever get the urge to play truant from all the jobs, sewing, housework you should be doing, just to go and really mess about  for a change.

I do and often when I look at what I have achieved I have no clue how I will use it, or even if I ever will, but that never seems to stop me producing some very strange and mostly useless things.


So here are my first offerings of things created when I was drunk  feeling playful,  a complete waste of time and possibly money....but hey  who cares occasionally!

Do feel free to join in the fun, I would hate to actually feel that I am theonly one who is this insane.......

 Just why would you needle felt a bowl of vegetables......even my grandson shunned these from his toy shop! (they are too hairy!!)

 

This one surely smacks of foraging gone wrong....or was it the alcohol?..... again!!

 Photo Homes and Antiques magazine

And this little fella was the fault (or rather inspired by) an article in Homes & Antiques magazine about the very talented Domenica More Gordon.  My puny effort is no reflection at all of her work, which is brilliant, but yet again another example of....what am I going to do with it now........  I am not even a dog lover!..

So come on let us all see some of your cupboard stash (that is hidden in a cupboard 'cos you don't know what else to do with it), you know you really want to........................

I will be back soon with the start of this years places I have been or rediscovered (as I think our glorious Isles are open again now), and of course my giveaway.... but for now ....

TTFN

Jenny xx

FASHION OR FOLLY....!

A few days ago the new Boden catalogue dropped through my letterbox and as you do I settled down a bit later with a coffee (honest it was just coffee!) to have a browse through. I mentally ticked one or two things, particularly dresses, which caught my fancy, but when I totted up what they would cost me I nearly fell off my chair!!

I do love their style and especially the prints they often use, but can I really justify paying out between £69 and £89 for a simple jersey wrap or cotton dress....

Well as you've probably guessed the answer is a resounding no!...so what does a girl do but raid her fabric stash and set to........

The fabric I selected was I think very bodenesque (sorry about that) and the pattern one of my all time favourites which I have made a few times......

the one at the back, although I have also made the front one.....

This one was in a grey devore fabric and I think I wore it till it almost fell apart it was so comfortable.  The only thing I found was I didn't like the bodice unlined and so now I line it with the main fabric which helps to keep the neck shape as well.

 ....and the finished article made the same day at a cost of about £7....no competition really and I am only an average dressmaker, so think what we all could save with a little time and patience....!

Of course having bit the bullet I was on a roll so next a variation for my 5 month pregnamt DD. This is to be a top not a dress and is awaiting fitting.....

 

 

The fabric is a very fine jersey with almost a devore look and has the finest gold thread through it which doesn't really show in the picture...


Before I continue though, take a look at the lovely little pin cushion I am using.  If there is one thing which makes my sewing really great it's having lovely notions and accessories.
I bought this....

and this little phone cover..............

From a very talented young lady at.....

www.dinkydaisy.co.uk

Go take a look, her things are so pretty and so well made...

and so........having well and truly got the dressmaking bug I am now making a slight variation of the dress in this....

so I think that may be my spring wardrobe sorted and my wallet saved..........

..........and to celebrate even the sky decided to give a wonderful display just to round off the day.....

Hope you are all finding your creative side now that 2011 has truly started...

TTFN

Jenny xx

ANOTHER YEAR OVER......and what have we done!.....

Well, quite a bit really and so in the time honoured fashion of the best review shows, here is my 2010 in brief........

There was lots of crafting.......

Lots of exploring.....

Bonding with nature........

and enjoying our picture postcard winter...(of course we didn't get stranded, cut off or starved, so our view of it was through rose tinted, if frozen specs!)

 and finally we finished it off with a traditional, cosy family Christmas for which I am very grateful as well as very fortunate to have had.....

and so to 2011....

I have loads of projects planned...decorating and renovating parts of this tumbledown pile....making new curtains and cushions....making new stock for my folksy shop, including a new range of satin slippers for tiny bridesmaids and christenings (photos to follow soon)....

and all this on top of a birth..... (our second grandchild due at the end of May), a family wedding, two trips already booked, one to a log cabin in Northumberland and one to France, so as you can guess my year will certainly not be boring, in fact I may need next year off to recover!!  

Seriously for a minute though, I know how lucky I am, my life, my wonderful family and all my friends and I do say thank you every day that I am so blessed.

I hope you too will all be blessed in 2011 and that your hearts and lives will be filled with love and happiness.

TTFN

Jenny xx