allo allo we`re back from our camping holiday (right next to Polzeath beach - awesome!) The weather was rather mixed (well it IS England) but we still had a great time - didnt get quite as much body boarding done as the kids would of liked, but come on its bloomin` cold in a bikini or trunks - the kids could stay in for hours in their wetsuits, but we dont have them :( might need to `splash` out a little next year.

Thought Id share a few holiday pics...

Wave watching on Polzeath Beach

From the seaward mouth of Merlins Cave

I love Tintagel - some of the shops are quirky & nice, but for me, by far the best thing about Tintagel is the coastline/scenery. Theres a lot of very steep walking, but its all worth while - it is one of those places which just soothes the soul! For the first time I managed to clamber all the way through to the other side of Merlins Cave & OH MY it was so worth it! Beautiful, awesome and so peaceful (yes, thats my lovely hubby standing to the side of the picture :)

Overlooking the Severn Sisters rock formation.

Looking rather wind swept - this was the only day my hair wasnt braided; it was like a rats nest come evening it was so tangled!

We went on a cruise aboard the Jubilee Queen around Puffin Island - unfortunately we didnt see Puffins as they leave by July...we`re planning to do it again earlier in the year so that we can see them. We did see grey seals though :) We also visited Trebarwith Strand for the first time and I got the strongest feeling that Ive been there before. I came home & asked my parents whether we went when I was a child - but we didnt. So strange - I KNOW Ive been there before, I can remember walking barefoot across the sea-smoothed rocks at the entrance to the beach - it was so familiar... in a past life maybe?! Strange but true.

I got lots of inspiration for felting projects while I was away. The kids go back to school a week from Monday, so it`ll be back to work for me too `Felt-a-hoy`.

Ive just been reading Keiaras blog and Im devastated!!! Keiara if only I hadnt been on holiday I could of met up with you... Stourbridge is a 10 minute drive from my house!

I luuuurve the Desert Tree necklace that Keiara has made for me! Its SO beautiful (you clever lady)! It is intended as a special birthday present - if I can bear to part with it... thank you sweetpea xxx

Well, thats about all for now, hope you are all well - thank you for following my blog :)

Debbie
xx

Crafty Kids

Well, Im a day late (what a suprise) I did say I would tell you more about what the kids are `upto`...

Well, we have been experimenting with felting some lovely free fleeces, given to us by a very friendly local farmer & his wife... the fleeces came from their free range sheep. I spun some & crocheted the yarn into warm wooly hats for the family as a thank you. Now, I know that the fibre spins very well but I wasnt too sure how well it would felt... there was only one way to find out... We decided to have a go at quite a big piece of felt, so we used an old bamboo blind and `foot felted` it out in the garden - lots of mess & lots of fun! (see pictures posted last week) We`ve done this before when we made rugs for the kids bedrooms; if you`re interested there are photos in my Crafty Kids Gallery .

This fleece didnt felt brilliantly it has to be said, but its very soft and will make a great squishy centre for the rag rug projects the kids are working on. Matthew (my 12 year old) is making a seat cover for his bedroom chair, and Rachael (my 10 year old) is making a comfy floor rug that she can take with her when she visits Matthews room to play on the xbox 360.

These pictures show Matts seat cover, he is about half way through the `podging` stage. We have recycled a pair of curtains in heavy fabric (red) and an old flannalette bedsheet (yellow). Matthew is working his initials MA into the seat back. When he is finished I shall sew a backing fabric on with the felt sandwiched in between and we can fit it to his chair.

The picture above shows the front,

the picture below is the back.

Rachael doesnt want me to post photos of her rug yet. BUT, a couple of days ago she set herself up, out on the deck in the sunshine, with a bowl of warm soapy water and a couple of handfulls of fibre - a little while later, after she had sewn on the ears and tail she had a lovely little mouse! At the moment he is one of the blind mice from the nursery rhyme, but she might add eyes when we find just the right beads for the job :o)












I think he`s adorable!

So, that what the kids have been doing! Of course, I havent managed to get much done myself, but its nice to spend plenty of family time, just chillin`... pottering around etc. We`ve had quite a few bake days and gardening too. Infact I`m going to show you our `bean tree` I`ve never seen runner beans get this big - they HUGE. They are growing up a willow obelisk, as they kept going up & out we had to add extra withies so they had something to hold onto. I recon theyre about 9 feet tall. Some of them, once they had reached the end of the sticks drooped down for a couple of feet - then grew back up themselves!

It looks a bit like a Darlek from Doctor Who in disguise!

On the felting front, I made a new purple triplet set for lovely Keiara (the one I had sent was a smidge tight) which means that Ive got the original triplets :o) and the purple set I had been working on for myself (below) is now free to go on my etsy shop. The embroidery is a little different on the bangle of this set, and the purples are a different shade (every piece has to be different).

The colours have come up a bit weird on the photos - I think its funny light at the moment. Oh well, you get the idea...

I shall be away from the internet for about a week and a half after tomorow, so after this mega waffle blog :o) that`ll be it from me ... for a while.

Take care of yourselves
x

Well, Ive had a mad few days... doing rag-rugging projects with the kids. I`ll post more on Monday about that.

I have managed to finish a nice orange bracelet set. Still have about 5 others bracelets left to embroider though - hopefully tomorow I will manage to finish them :o)

Have a lovely weekend...... Deb x

Felting Fun

Well, perhaps not the best start ever - but being as its the school summer holidays I'm not doing much of my own stuff. Having lots of lovely family time though - which is what its all about isnt it?!

I have a 12 year old son & a 10 year old daughter - who are both very crafty (in both ways ;o)

These are the felted birdies we made a couple of weeks ago. If you take a peek at my website, theres a Crafty Kids Gallery where you will find these and some of their other creations. We`re doing some experiments too (more about that in the future) we have been felting with our feet... here are a couple of pics of the kids hard at work :o)

Treading down the fibres to make sure theyre all nice & wet & flat

Fulling the Felt

Other than family projects I have been doing smaller / quicker stuff - things that I can easily put down & carry on with at a later time. I've done quite a bit of jewellery, the latest has been for the lovely Keiara of The Jewelled Path

Keiaras goodies

These bracelets are a new design and turned out so well - I'm thrilled with them! Infact I love them so much that I'm going to HAVE to make some similar for myself ;o) Im actually going to start them now...

TTFN

xxxx