Highlandhearts

I have been making lots of Scottie dog brooches, a few more than in this photo,  for little Christmas gifts.  The one on the bottom left is a bit more of a pup as it is for my Grand daughter and the one, second down on the right, is specially made for the best friend of my sis-in-law who died a couple of years ago.  It is made from a piece of her clothing so I thought it would mean more to her and she is a soppy date like me so its a way of feeling close to my sis-in-law as we still  miss her so much.   I have also been making these little boxes to put them in, with a bit of help from my son as I couldn't remember how to make them.  I am using the lovely vintage wallpaper I picked up for a pound a while ago and have used for various projects and some washi tape and a bit of Christmas tissue paper.  I hope people like their little homemade gift as it hasn't cost a lot but is made with love. I have made a few other brooches too, some of them have gone on...

Hello everyone,  the weather has been really misty and damp this last week, I find it a bit depressing really and would much rather the cold crisp winter days.  Everything is dying back now but the photo above shows that even at this time of year the colour and moistness of this bracken looks kind of beautiful doesn't it. I have been busy sewing this last week and am steaming well ahead with my present making for Christmas and not feeling the pressure of time running out this year.  Most years I tend to make a few gifts, partly because I enjoy making things but also as it is a lot more frugal as I recycle a lot of my materials.  I am having to do Christmas on a tight budget again this year.  I would love to be able to save money throughout the year towards the costs, indeed I did start to buy a few supermarket savings stamps but we never seem to have enough extra to save.  I cannot post any photo's of my makes yet as certain people will see this bl...

This morning we woke to a hard frost and freezing fog.  I was so cosy in bed it was hard to get up but we had to get moving as both of us are working today.   I took this pic whilst walking to work.  It was lovely as there was the promise of some sunshine coming through.  All was quiet except for a lone sheep baaring (is that a word?)  perhaps it had lost the others in the mist. We need a few frosts to kill of the germs I think and I would much rather have a few days like this than the grey wet days we have had lately. Terri X

I awoke out of sorts this morning.  It was another dull, wet start to the day and I watched out of the window as the mist rolled up the hill to engulf us. Instead of going out to sewing class I decided to save the money this week and use it for next time and stay home.   I had lots i could be getting on with but first i decided to get the slow cooker out and make a stew for OH.  I had two bits of meat given to me frozen when my friend emptied her freezer out as she was going away for a month.  I gratefully accepted everything she gave me but I still couldn't tell exactly what meat it was when defrosted!  I put the bits in with lots of veg, lentils potatoes and stock and left it to cook.   I felt like having some soup so I chopped up 3 sticks of celery, 1 leek and 1 potato adding  1 1/2 pints of vegetable stock .  After 20 mins simmering I blitzed it with the hand blender and it made a tasty soup. I had a few loads of washing to do and I had to tum...

Are lots of WIP's ( works in progress). I did finish the batman cushion for one of my Grandsons when I had a sewing day with my friend but it didn't turn out to be as straightforward to do as I expected but I think he will like it.  I got a free gift on a magazine whilst I was away, and I started on this at the Monday sewing class It took me two hours to do the paper piecing as they were such small triangles.   I hope to finish it this coming Monday. I also brought a pile of Christmas card toppers and a pack of paper chains which I am going to use to start making my Christmas cards.  I got this little lot from Home Bargains as their prices are so cheap I.e. 59p for 8 toppers and 99p for the papers.  I had a card making evening Friday but only made a couple of Birthday cards just sat chatting! Also on my table are some squares cut out ready to make another bag as a present for a family member. I asked my son for an old pair of his jeans to cut up for the handles. ...

This lovely sampler was a gift from a friend this week and I am thinking of framing it and hanging it in my craft room.  I have been organising my bits and pieces and I got OH to hang these shelves up for me They were moved off the wall in the kitchen as I decided it would be nice for OH to have a display area for all the fantastic photo's he takes.  He has painted one wall and put up two picture ledges and i will show it when finished but we are in the process of collecting any old picture frames we come across and painting them different colours. I still love the colour on my own shelves so just showing another photo of them. This lovely little brooch belonged to an aunt of mine who recently died.  I was able to choose a memento from a few things but I loved the purple colours and knew I would wear this.  I have put it on the collar of my new to me corded coat The coat is actually a midnight blue colour, hard to get a decent photo in our cottage, and was £9.50 in a...