HeartCrafts

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

Beautiful April

10:09:00 am

Beautiful April

Birds are singing and flowers in full bloom, Spring/Summer is here! and I am in our garden every opportunity!

I love to tinker out in the garden when the sun shines♥

It has been ages since I last put pen to paper (or shall I say finger to switchboard). Life is just one long roller coaster ride with very few stops in between!

Like I mentioned on a previous blog, I have been fortunate enough to get a tiny little pod at Vintage Retreat where I now sell my handmade goodies and other bits and bobs. Amongst them are some Vintage finds. I have always been a big fan of anything Vintage and therefore have a keen eye for some good reusable Vintage finds.

Some of the many vintage patterns I am sorting through...with nostalgia

After all the rain we have had here in the UK what a privilege it was to Spend some weeks with the family in sunny Cyprus! Came back for 2 weeks and off we jetted again for another spell in the Sun! That did us all very good and it was lovely to wake up every morning to a happy sun and lots of laughter thrown in as well!

Coming back…the garden needed tending and a lot of time has been taken up with that and all handwork was put hold, apart from the hand sewing project (my little hexagons!!!!) they are multiplying day by day and soon…very soon hopefully by the end of the year a 100% hand sewn quilt will be done♥

My passion at the moment..hexagons....

My wise sister (Clarissa) once told me: life is like a tapestry, you can only see the pattern at the top and not all the loose threads hanging at the bottom..be patient and the purpose/pattern will be revealed one day….hmmmmm

Two little chicks I made out of some scraps...

Like a I said , life is a roller coaster ride, and the journey through it is a journey of many different rides. Downhill, uphill, crazy, devastating, but most of all the frightening rides… Enjoy and endure every minute of it, good or bad with the knowledge that you will come out the other side, sometimes a bit bedraggled and sad, but with the knowledge you did it and made it! No wonder my tic tok brain is on strike! Too much going on in my bubble of a little world.

Happy crafting wherever you are in the world and enjoy/endure the ride.

Luvvies x

Saturday, 4 January 2014

New Year, New Beginnings♥

9:31:00 pm

♥New Year, New Beginnings♥

A very happy full of love and laughter 2014 is wished upon each and everyone on this place called earth. May just peace and happiness fill our hearts with cups of laughter, health and endurance!

Many days have passed since I last put my fingers on the keyboard to type a few words, but so much has happened in my small little world that prevented me from doing so....the PC played up, then I got sick etc etc and when I woke one morning I found it was the end of the year!

Most of us have new ideas and New Years resolutions - the old is behind us with all the burdens and sorrows, but also with memories of lots of love and laughter - some with some intense sorrow and sadness - I am convinced each person promises themselves that the New Year will bring something special...may hopes and dreams come true. It is in hope that we flourish.

From the beginning of this month I will have a small Pod/space for selling my goodies at the lovely Vintage Retreat in Northampton. This is an exciting time for me as I have only been doing school / church stalls etc. With hope and dreams in my heart, no depressing economy will dampen my spirits! (not even all this rain!!!)

For me, life is to take time out to create to be busy and live each day positive.

My late mum (Jo Zeelie) started a quilt which she never finished before she suddenly passed away. 2013, 15 years after her death, with the help of some lovely people at The Bramble Patch in Weedon UK, it was finished. While I was hand-stitching the edges, my mind was talking to my mum.....what did she feel /wonder / hope while she was busy making it...I will never know... at least it has been completed now.

How lovely it was for The Bramble Patch to put it up on their Christmas(2013) quilting exhibition to be enjoyed by one and all - a thing of beauty is a joy forever! My mum would have been so proud of her handwork♥

Herewith are some photos of the little houses that are on the Quilt. Each one done with so much detail and attention, but then...that was my mum.

The finished quilt

May this year bring you only joy and happiness, and if there is sadness, may your tears soon be washed away.

Happy Creative 2014♥

Luvvies x

Thursday, 14 November 2013

SMILE!

9:48:00 pm

Smile….

at the world and the world will smile back at you…not always true, but encouraging. There are such a lot of mean, mean, mean human beings out there in the world, that they are so unhappy within themselves they cannot bear to say a good thing about anything or anybody…how sad is that.

Joseph Addison quoted:

‘ What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable’

It has been a long time since I updated my blog, but I one excuse I have is to blame the flu, which knocked me for a six. Then the news that I was diabetic…I was pushing myself - always feeling so tired and thought it was just old age…during all these dark days I did not feel like smiling. Just felt sorry for myself, then suddenly it dawned on me there are millions out there who are far worse off then a pathetic little crafter feeling sorry for herself and I started to smile again!

Once one understands the good a smile does for a fellow human being, it uplifts ones spirit and one starts to develop a true appreciation for that which is good and noble in others and move away from the ‘me’.

People start reacting positive when a positive smile radiates from within, and to those who keep on criticise for every penny its worth…I shrug you off and carry on smiling!

I look at some lovely embroidery done by my crafter sister Clarissa Rudd who is a wonder when it comes to handling a needle and just have to have a smile in my heart when I look at her lovely handwork and just hope it will reach the inside of people who have a love of the needle art and can share it with a smile in their heart♥

and remember, no matter what life throws at you,

SMILE and you may just lighten someone's day / life♥

luvvies x

Thursday, 3 October 2013

After travelling....

3:14:00 pm

Travelling...

Oh dear how many of us like to go to the other side of the world, the bottom part for me, as I am on 'top of the world' here in the UK when I last glanced at the globe. Now to get to the other side takes a lot of planning, scheming and lots of hard work!

It is for that very reason ' hard work' that I have not written a blog for a long time. I like to take this as my excuse. First it was coordinating my plane ticket from the UK with hubbie's one from Qatar...then it was contacting all the family to hear if it was a convenient time / days...all this emailing and planning left me tired even before the plane took off. Then there was 7.5 hours to Dubai, then a quick grab of a coffee in maddening crowd then off again for another 9.5 hours...In my 'younger days' it was fine, but now as age set in the old bones walk slower and the body gets tired...BUT I survived to tell the tale and here I am♥

How lovely it was to see friends and most of all family. We are 5 siblings (see previous blogs) and we all talk at the same time so you have to be on your toes when visiting...but we had a lovely time. Then there was Cape Town....blue skies and friendly faces everywhere.

Sisters - a bond that binds us together♥

Some lovely South African 'fynbos' and proteas in my son's house in Cape Town

I experienced a lot of new ideas and colours during this lovely time spent with the sibling. Colours and ideas to inspire any person who is creative and has a will do make something out of nothing! I saw this (Sister Veronica made one for a BBQ and brother Ben added a flower) and thought it was too cute and simple not to mention. Take an old tin, remove and sharp edges, wrap a paper serviette around it, tie it up with string or raffia, add a little flower / roll up some serviettes- and there you have a lovely space saving instant serviette/napkin holder - the photo of Table Mountain just went with the occasion-always to be remembered by me.

Serviette / Napkin creation and as a bonus -
lovely Table Mountain.

I have so many things to do at the moment but after travels there is the back to reality and work.....my head is spinning - after 5 weeks - one week to recover from 'Jet-Lag' another week to get the washing done.....the garden....the emails etc etc and that is why I am only easing into everything now!

Have a super duper day / weekend

and remember, always the bright side up,

no matter what the weather!

Happy Crafting and creating♥

Luvvies xxxx

Thursday, 18 July 2013

SUNSHINE!

7:45:00 am

Sunshine and Happiness!

Good morning all you lovely people out there and to all the grumpy ones...smile and if you cannot wake up with a smile(through the aches and pains) sleep with a coat hanger in the mouth.....Only joking. I am aware of many pains that are hiding behind brave smiles. Bless you all! It will get better♥

With the hot weather we have had here over the last week or so, the watering can has been working overtime and our two water butts are empty......I wish for a downpour...to fill them and to green the grass a bit, or I might just think..the grass is greener on the other side.

A lot of time, like I mentioned, was watering the garden from the butts and here are the results. A feast to the eye, well, mine at least and not to forget the wonderful detail of nature.

Photography is one of my passions (for my own self and albums) apart from all the other things like, talking talking talking talking...stamp collection, coin collection and sewing and crafting and many more. A Jill of all trades, but master of none.

My grand-son's thyme and rosemary and my parsley!

So pretty!

Pansy : Each one has their own 'face'♥

My Garden Friends

Perfect in every way and such an inspiration in my crafts!

I have been 'finishing off' where hubbie left off in the loft and little by little it got done. First sanding all the walls, then paint it...in this heat..... NEXT time the other side will be tackled, but it is hard work, but worth in the end♥ Maybe I can claim that little corner for my sewing machine and shift HIS stuff to the back.......Hmmm just an idea! I can imagine, my Brother humming away..birds singing...I think I might just...

Now more space to pack things...and be 'organised!

Not much time for crafting the last two weeks as I mentioned, loft and garden took priorities, but that does not mean my hands were idle in between!

Like a sloth the blanket is taking shape, each night ONE block only....

Well, so much to do and so little time. Now waiting for the gas engineer to come.....my second name is ''Waiting'', but I will be patient and sit sewing outside in the garden whilst waiting...

Have a fabulous day wherever you are - in the snow or the rain or the heat! (I think I blogged this before, but I ♥ it.) so here goes again...

Marion Kaplinsky says in her book ''1001 Things to make you Smile''

''You come into the world crying while all around you are smiling. Live your life so that you leave it smiling while all around you are crying''

luvvies
x

Monday, 8 July 2013

And the Winner...

10:23:00 pm

And the Winner...

Gets to take Kitty home! I have been over the moon and back when I won this DapperCat Monoprint by Artist Lauren Hubbard (Skulls & Robots) of Northampton in a competition I entered.

The first time I set eyes on Kitty...I fell in love with her and wished SO hard that I could win and hey presto! Who says wishes do not come true♥ Soon she will be framed and I can chat to her everyday. Is she not sweet?

Thank you Made in Northamptonshire for running the competition on your FaceBook page.

More happiness came in the form of sunshine! At last the sun was out, and the warm sun is enough to make any person smile and burst with energy...like our lovely flowers in the garden at the moment. P.S. and the UK won Wimbledon and the strawberries are out and sweet!

One can only smile at such happy faces♥

Frilly, purple and pink and mauve♥

White and deep pink and ever so pretty♥

It has otherwise been a busy time with lots to do. At the moment I am busy doing the day job, gardening, and slowly, slowly slowly busy decorating the loft with strict instructions from the boss alias hubbie who has left again to work on shores of faraway country.

Times has also been spent on restoring some wooden crates to display my lovehearts in at stalls, sandpaper/varnish and a little help from hubbie, and the results are..tralala.....

An old Apple crate, treated for woodworm/sanded and varnished and 'fixed' by hubbie♥

An old box 'obtained from our Roofers....Solid like a rock!

So on that happy note to end this 'blue Monday' have a perfect week full of laughter and sunshine and love.

Life is too short to be grumpy and anything else♥

Luvvies
x

Thursday, 27 June 2013

Bookmarks

7:03:00 am

In today's world a bookmark is something new to the children of today who are used to electronic books, but if only they know how lovely it is to read a book, shed a tear or two on the pages, spill some coffee/tea and sometimes wine on a page if you want to drink and read......it is so different to the cold and hard electronic gadgets...oh well, to each his own and by the way, my tic tok brain is in any case to small to understand which buttons to touch to read them (have tried and failed and it won't be good to shower some tears onto the screen....)

Our lives are full of bookmarks too. Every day you live, your life a page is written and some are good and some are not. Each one is made up of memories, again some good and some very sad....

I once read that today creates the memories of tomorrow and each memory that stands out in our 'books of live' will be book marked by a good / bad memory.

I try and live everyday to be happy for life is so short and there is so much lovely things that overshadow the bad - be positive. Sometimes it is sooooooo difficult to comprehend why things happen? It is not for us to understand...but just try and bookmark it as a post along the pages of life.

Today is a special day, as it is the birthday of our lovely grand daughter and we are so blessed to have her and have a close relationship with her. May she be blessed and may this day be bookmarked as a happy day full of love, laughter and sunshine to be remembered by.

Here are some bookmarks I made for those old fashioned ones amongst us who still like paper.....hehehehe