Simple Pleasures!

I was going to write there that I have done no crafting - but after thinking for a few seconds (as you do) I realised I did do some crafting, I made a few handmade cards - very basics - for my Mum as a wee gift. Going to get a mini box and pop them in... Will also pop in a little occasions book that will have birthdays/anniversaries etc in there... Haven't taken photos as I put them back in the box...



Anyhoo, the past week has been a bit of a drag, I pulled a muscle quite badly in my neck and could hardly move.. it was such a pain especially with the pup jumping everywhere. Not only that but I couldn't get my housework done - which believe it or not really brings me down. I like a clean home, with everything in it's place... like at Christmas, I spend nearly the whole month of December going through cupboards (even those people don't go into) bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and living room... making sure they are spotless... why I'm not sure, I just like things to be in place.. So it was such a relief to be able to get the hoover out and clean :D hehe! I guess this would be one of my simple pleasure..









Now the puppy on the other hand this would be her simple pleasure ;) Give her an Avon box, a fleece blanket (which she dragged in herself) and the dog draught excluder, and she's delighted! (as you can see hehe) She's very much into cardboard boxes at the moment, especially ones that she can drag our clothes in from the laundry basket! Hubby and I have given up a few pieces of clothes that we no longer want to give to her, just so she has our scent with her at all times, we've even included something of the cat and vice versa just to get them used to each other...



We have to admit we've been very lucky with her, apart from the first night - which was really teething troubles as we've never had a dog before, she's slept very well and only whines when she wants to go to the toilet... which is a total blessing... Toileting too has come on leaps and bounds and we can now let her out without the lead on in the front stones (we have to watch as there is no fence as the road is right out the door.) I just find she does something new everyday... and I feel she's just like a baby - I guess this is what a mother is like with a newborn..

That's the way the cookie crumbles... well biscuits ;)

I really really fancied some homemade biscuits tonight... I just had the taste... and this is what the result is :)

They're a mixture of ginger and some cinnamon ones. They taste scrumptious. The darker ones are cinnamon they look so dark because I sprinkled extra cinnamon on top - my hubby is a total addict of cinnamon. I followed this recipe and it was so easy. I made these for our post valentines dinner :) they went down a treat.

Happy Valentines Day!!

I woke up this morning to some lovely little goodies from my hubby Joe... and I thought I'd show you a couple of my little things... The necklace is from Avon, and I just love it :) I remember seeing it in the brochure and hinting like mad to my hubby.. to be honest, I completely fell in love with the box... it's so sweet, and i've asked my hubby's permission to use it for a craft that I have in mind, and he doesn't mind (he's a wee darling like that). I just like how the little gems sparkle and when they are on they look gorgeous... I'm not really one to wear a lot of jewellery but this is definately going to be used a fair bit.

and this little girl is just gorgeous... again I hinted like mad, i'm really quite bad for the fancy little hot water bottles and covers, and hubby knows me too well hehe! So I really did get spoilt rotten today...

I hope that you all got spoilt, and had a lovely day whether or not you are in a relationship or single, I hope this Valentines day was a good one to you :)

New Additions

This is our lovely new puppy Poppy.. she's 8 weeks old tomorrow, we went to get her last Friday and each day she brings a smile to my face. She is a quick learner, and I've been spending the last few days getting her to be sociable with mum's dogs, and also the basics. She is now getting used to her name, starting to do the whole 'sit' and 'give paw' but we'll get there with her. My hubby agrees she's the best thing we've decided to have in a long time, and I wouldn't change her for anything.

Louie is just not keen at the moment, I think he's too used to being the 'king' of the house, but he's taking it a lot better than we expected. Here is the wee monkey with a cheeky smile on his face, as you can see he really does think he's king, and drinks his water out of a glass lol, he is rather spoilt.

This was something my mum got me today, she is the one that taught me how to do my basic knitting last year, and knows i'm super keen at learning more detailed stuff. I did try collecting the crotchet one of these last year, but just wasn't interested in it at the time and asked if this came round could my mum get it for me... so my face sure lit up when this came into my posession today :D ... I'm seriously wanting to make the throw as a present for my grandmother, she appreciates homemade gifts, and especially something knitted, she's an avid knitter herself, I just want to make as many homemade things as possible, plus i'm excited that it's in such a manageable way to learn. Who can complain about a magazine with a pair of knitting needles 2 small balls of wool and a dvd for 99p? Can't wait for next week when I can get the folder and start my lovely little collection :-)

I'm alive... honest..

Wow it's been nearly a year since I blogged, I can't believe it... What have I been doing :/

I still do a bit of crafting now and then, but since moving into my lovely new home I've just fallen in love with doing things for the house! Even though our house is lovely and decorated to how I want it... it's just not complete yet. It's nearly there just some little things to get done.. mainly our spare room and small bathroom.

A few years ago I totally fell in love with shabby chic. I just can't get over the sheer subtle glamour it has. Il love it. So basically i've been on a mission to make my house a home... using shabby chic techniques...

one of my projects was an old towel rail I bought in a charity shop, I seem to go here and look at furniture specifically on the grounds of doing it over... I love the whole concept of recycling, but also to have pieces that other people don't have... So anyway... I had this towel rail many years, and kept meaning to get round to it, but I did... even thought it was just a week before christmas, I did it.. I painted it in a lovely creamy colour, and it's taking pride of place in my little toilet. The thing is i'm driving Joe nuts with wanting to get more stuff to do over... i've been seriously bitten by the bug.... My main aim is to buy a dresser for my kitchen, and get more of a country cottage feel to it..... but I want to pick one up real cheap and do it up myself... there is nothing better than the buzz you get knowing you have done something over for such a small budget... I love it... I'm such a frugal person 99% of the time, and the buzz is fab :)

Anyway I've managed to get Joe to agree and we've been scouring ebay, gumtree, other sites, but just can't seem to get anywhere, and with living so remotely in the highlands of Scotland, no one really wants to post/deliver to us... but the search will continue and I will have my lovely country feel kitchen in no time!

Another thing we've been scouring for is a french style dressing table... again no luck... but this really is the piece that I need to finish off my lovely bedroom. It's crying out for a dressing table, and i'm just not getting it... but I'm not one for giving up, and I'll have it... I just know I will...

Goody goody goodiessssss - Prima have a-plenty to giveaway :)

I'm very intrigued with the give aways that blogs do, and when looking around I came across the Prima blog through some friends who recommended it. When I checked out their site I was amazed at the beautiful items that they make.

While browsing I also noticed they are giving away some goodies up to the value of $100 with one American winner and one International winner - needless to say I'd definately like to win the goodies - I don't really seem to win anything these days, but hey ho if I don't I don't at least I've spread the word a little.

They also have something big happening around the 5th of March, so get adding them to your blog and find out what this exciting thing is :) :)

here is a pic of the goodies :) :) lovely ain't they :) :) Pop along to the Prima blog here and why not try your luck and enter too :) :)

Too Big For My Boots!

Last night I started knitting some wrist warmers, and I was determined I would finish it in one night - and yeah I did finish one of them, but it was the wrong size of needles - ARGH! Nightmare - they were too tiny - my niece wouldn't even get her hands through them - it serves me right for not looking properly at the size of needles - so I'll just have to start again and then i'll get to try out my nice new needles woohoo! While knitting though I wanted something I could finish quick - nothing beats the feeling that you have accomplished something... sooo.... I remebered I'd got this little pattern and these were the first things I ever knitted, but couldn't find where I'd put them so I just knitted some more up with some matching ribbons. I think these tiny booties look so cute - and I'm delighted with them. No doubt I'll use them to make my mum's neighbour a card as she is due a baby any time soon, and they are on a card on the site, but I have other ideas on how to use these babies too.
Check out the pattern here :) It's issue 5 and called 'baby booties' there is some lovely little crafts over there so you should really take some time out and have a look.

I felt very crafty tonight too... I made my gran's birthday cards, but it took me over 3 hours just to get a little inspiration - I don't really have much in the ways of card toppers, plenty card, but nothing really to put on them, but I managed and got 2 decent looking cards. I tried to get pics of them but no matter how much I tried I just couldn't get one that did them justice - that's my excuse and i'm sticking by it hehe!