The wailing wall and other sights

This is just a quick post from me before I leave for my holiday. I'm going to hot, hot sunny Israel for 10 days. I can't wait to see the sights and pray at all the holy places of our forefathers. An added bonus is that my son is studying there, so I'll get to spend some time with him. Gotta run now, I've a plane to catch. So Au revoir and see you all when I get back at the end of the month

Tzivi showing off her cast

The day sort of just disappeared today. I really didn't do much except the dreade housework. On the up side my daughter was here today with her little ones and they cheered me up no end. Tzivi's leg is in a cast from the thigh to her toes, but that didn't deter her. As soon as she arrived she was in my garden and back on the trampoline cast and all. I think we adults are more traumatised by the whole incident than she is. Anyway hopefully it'll be coming off on Monday and she'll only need a knee support for the next couple of weeks. I managed to get the little Madam to pose for some pics in her cast, but couldn't get any of her on the trampoline. Enjoy them and thanks for visiting

Combining my two hobbies

Hi everyone. It's nice to see you all again. I have a new project to show you which is perfect for both my hobbies. I made this nifty little sewing box from a Laura Denison kit. You can check out her blog at Follow the paper trail. She does some absolutely amazing stuff. Anyway, here it is; a place where I can keep all my sewing bits and bobs lovingly hand crafted by little ol' me.

 
This is a top view where you can see the lid and some needleworky embellishments. The rest of the pics which follow are different views showing all the compartments, knobs and decorations. I'm not sure which paper collection was used, it all came with the kit. But all the other bits are Tim Holtz whose stuff I absolutely adore.

As you can see, it opens up like like a real vintagy, old fashioned kind of sewing box. The kind I used to scrabble around in at my Grandma's. It's got all the hinges and knobs and a real olde worlde feeling to it. Added to that it has plenty of space for me to store all the stuff that usually rolls around under the table, and last but not least it's a lovely decorative piece of work too. Thanks for visiting and see you again soon

A little break, a baking frenzy and an accident

Hi all of you
Well I had a lovely time away in Bournemouth last week. A group of around 60 mothers with special needs children went to a hotel and we all left the daddies at home to see what it is we do all day. We all had a great time going for walks, chatting and generally letting our hair down. It was brilliant to be able to exchange hints and tips and there were two counsellors on site if anyone wanted to talk. Added to that was the fact that we had luscious meals 3 times a day and no cooking or washing up to do!! And we all enjoyed some lovely aromatherapy massages too. What could be better than that. I've come back well refreshed and can't wait for next year's retreat.

Today I had a baking day. We have a Jewish Holiday coming up next week when it is a custom to eat dairy foods, so I was up to my ears in butter, cheese, cream and loads of other yummy stuff. I made cinnamon buns and croissants and cheesecake and butter cookies and some savoury stuff too. All the stuff that can be frozen has been baked sealed and frozen away from prying little - and not so little - fingers and mouths. So next week all I have to do is the pavlova and some little fresh cream tarts that everyone loves. Hope all that didn't make you too hungry.

My little 2 and a half year old granddaughter had an accident yesterday. The poor thing was jumping on my trampoline and fell awkwardly hurting her leg. DD took her to A and E but Tzivi made such a scene that they were unable to x-ray her leg. The doctor sent them home with instructions that my daughter should watch Tzivi and if she's no better by tomorrow morning they will sedate her and do  the x-ray. Poor Tzivi is still not using her leg and crying constantly so DD is off to have her seen to tomorrow. That's all for today and thanks for stopping by.

A mini book for my husband

Good evening all. Here's hoping you all had a good weekend. Mine was lovely. My aldest duaghter moved in over the weekend with her two little ones and it was chaotic but wonderful. It's great to be able to give them back after a while.

Anyway, I'm going away tomorrow for a few days with a support group for parents of children with special needs. Some of you may know that I have a son who is diabetic and one with ADD/anxiety disorder/behavioural problems. This retreat is for Mums only and I can't wait to get away from it all for a bit. To cut a long story short, DH is staying home with the kids so I decided to make him a little booklet to look at while I'm gone. I hope he'll like it. Here are some pictures of what it looks like. I used the scrumtious new Chapter One collection from Kaisercraft. I love Kaisercraft. They are one of my favourite manufacturers together with Bo Bunny and My Minds Eye. Enough waffling though. Look at my mini book and let me know what you think

As you can see, I made a page for each day as well as the cover and inside the front cover I wrote him a little note. On each page for the day, there is an envelope or pocket which houses a little journalling tag on which a put a silly little rhyme. I hope he likes it and I hope you do too. Thanks for visiting my blog

Another outfit and some courage

Hi there. I had a very productive day today. Aside from all the mundane stuff like cooking and cleaning I mean. Firstly I made an outfit for 9 year old Sarah. She needs it like a hole in the head but I love sewing for my little girl. So here is a glimpse of it. The fabric is a stone linen mix with black and red butterflies on it. As you can see the jacket is a casual denim type jacket with loads of black topstitching and the skirt is a straight panelled skirt with matching black stitching. I had to cut the paper pattern into about 10 pieces to get the style I wanted but the end result is really worth it

I also did a layout today. It took alot of courage to do this one because it took me right out of my comfort zone. I've never been able to create a layout with lots of white space so I challenged myself to do just that. I used the fabulous Love Burds collection from Fancy Pants, some  Martha Stewart edge punches and the lovely Tim Holtz large and small rosette dies. I added some gems and buttons for the finishing touch. Thanks for coming along today.

And another LO

Hi there. This is the LO I did today. It features a candid shot of my DD1 with her DD2

I used The  Kaisecraft Chanteuse collection. The base background is dark pink and then I used a striped pp on which I punched around the page with a Martha Stewart punch. On top of that is some torn pp the edges of which I inked in bundled sage distress ink. The chipboard title and the flourish are decorated with pink and green stickles and the flowers have lots of diamond dust on them. The lace and crocheted doily are also distresse with a mixture of tattered rose and worn lipstick. The poy is from the collection and so is the quote at the bottom right hand corner. I finished the LO with some handstitching. Thanks for stopping by.