Thursday 20 December 2012

my creative space . . . . my last post this year!


Pheeeew, it's getting so close to the 'Big Day', I really must make this my last post . . . . where on earth did December go?  - it flew right past me without me noticing!!  I did mention that I had a little crafty project on the 'coal burner', but it really is a VERY little project, but one I keep meaning to try every Christmas and never have done before.  Still in progress, as I intend to play around a bit, and make some more of these . . .

As you  can seen the second orange doesn't even have any cloves in it yet - I'm still experimenting!  I love the smell of oranges and cloves and last year I bought a ready-made orange 'pomander' from the lovely craft unit at my college office job - it must have struck a chord because I decided to have a go myself.  I'm photographing them outside on a lovely frosty morning here : )


and hanging from a fir-tree in the garden . . .

I'm planning to try and make some table decorations with them, or perhaps a candle-feature - just a fun, easy thing to do in the last few days before Christmas.  Here's some of the links  I came across online to give some ideas on how to make them - of course the proper way to do them is a few weeks beforehand so they dry out properly - maybe next year ;-)

Easy to Make Christmas Decorations
The History of Pomanders
Orange and Clove Christmas Decorations
Hot to Make Orange and Clove Pomanders
Make it:  Orange and Clove Candle Holders

Well folks, I'm off to have a try at some 'orangey-clovey' decorations!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and fun New Year!  

Thanks to all for another bloggy fun-filled crafty year :) :)

I will 'see' you in 2013 - doesn't that sound weird!!!!

More crafty peeps here, sharing their wonderful 'makes' - MERRY CHRISTMAS/NOLLAIG CHRIDHEIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alison xx

Monday 17 December 2012

Wildlife on the croft

We've had the most beautiful, mild  winter weather here in the Outer Hebrides over the weekend and again today - just beautiful, it makes Christmas shopping so much easier :)  I popped outside on Saturday to try and take a photo of a beautiful little Robin Redbreast which has been visiting the garden for the last few weeks - I'm not sure if it's the same one, but in my head it is!  I got a little distracted by this scary creature in next door's croft though - he's a bit of a brute! . . .


. . . and a front view . . .

. . . sorry, blurry pictures - he was making me a little nervous - just look at these horns!  His fleece is a funny ochre colour - obviously this ram has been brought in to em . . . 'service' the sheep, I guess it's that time of year, but I can't say I'm very well up on the breeding habits of sheep - I'd really rather not know LOL :)

I thought it was very sweet that my neighbour has painted his flock in lovely festive colours though, hehe!  They look very pretty . . .


Again, more to do with, er, that scary looking ram - poor sheep!!  I don't know what the different colours of marking mean - don't go there :-0

Anyway they all looked very pretty on a glorious Saturday morning :)

I finished my 'camouflage' beanie, which fits 'Little S' perfectly but as I suspected he wasn't too keen - "it's too scratchy,' he said, I think it's a little too girly, despite the colours, the spiral design isn't 'boyish' enough . .


The magazine in the background 'Handmade Living' is really lovely - I bought it last week when I 'chickened out' of doing some Christmas shopping and beat a hasty retreat home with it, hehe!  I love this project in it for making ice-mobiles - it's featured in a book called 'Nature's Playground' - a really lovely idea for Wintry weather (which we currently don't have!) . . . 


I might try it with 'Little S' if we ever get some snow and ice! (and I can wean him off his Game console!)  You simply gather some leaves, berries, or other organic material and freeze them in dishes of water, adding string to join them -  freeze overnight and voila!! (Use pastry cutters for interesting shapes)  Cool, eh?

I did eventually get - a  very blurry - pic of that elusive Robin - they are so sweet . . . 


I'm sure it's the same one that keeps 'visiting' me - my very own 'special' Christmas Robin - everyone should have one LOL!

Off to post my parcels and cards later today - and hope to get some supplies for a little crafty project - if I manage it, I'll share it with you :) :)

Bye for now :)
Alison  x

Tuesday 11 December 2012

A bit of this . . . and a bit of that :)

Not a very original title for a blog post, but I've been busy doing lots of bits and pieces of things lately!  I seem to be a bit overly relaxed about Christmas this year - enjoying my crafting experiments so  much, but I have lots of crafty bits 'n pieces which will no doubt find their way into some Christmas parcels, so it's all good :) :)

The socks are finished - Van Gogh's masterpiece on my feet - who'd have  thought, hehe . . .


They are quite toasty, especially if you warm them  up on the top of the heater first - good for warming up the tootsies on a cold day . . .


The beach-ball is stuffed (but still not in the shop, maybe soon though, so difficult getting good shots on these darker days!) . . . 

I think the colours worked nicely together though - you really need to eat your porridge before stuffing these beach-balls, it's a bit of a feat of  strength and sheer determination!  I'm happy how it turned out though :)

(. . . and, yes, I had my porridge this morning, hehe!)

This week I'm onto a quick project of a knitted beanie, for ?????  Whoever it fits, most likely, and it seems to fit 'Little S's' head quite well so far (so it's a small beanie!) - he was quite obliging about letting me try it on him with the knitting needles still in place!  I love the colours of this yarn, but it's a devil to work with, like knitting with candy-floss, slips and slides all over the place, I'm using a free pattern from Ravelry knitwear designer, LoveHestia (you can see it here though) called the Hurricane Hat as  it has a spiral pattern, quite contemporary I think - we'll see how it turns out :) . . . 

I bought the yarn (Mochi Plus) as I'd been looking for some camouflage-type colours over the last year, and this is the closest I'd seen - I think it's more fern/forest-like, but interesting to work with. 

What . . . ,. Christmas is two weeks away!!!!  Don't panic, it's all in hand - she says optimistically :)  I'm not sure that I can stop knitting for long enough to complete all  my preparations - it's cool though, it's a very good way of keeping calm throughout the madness.  Hope your prep is all going well too :)

I'll leave with you a pic of the beautiful sunrise we had  here today . . 

Please excuse the bit of washing-line in the foreground!
Alison x

Thursday 6 December 2012

My Creative Space . . . what's on my 'to-do' list today


Sorry for a very blurry pic today!  (it's very dark in the Hebrides today - oooooohhhhh!)    I'm hoping to stuff this 'tweedie' beach ball today  - it's been a WIP (work in progress) for longer than I care to remember :)  In between I'll be picking up my Van Gogh sock project - we're almost done, yippee!!  Once I started on them, well . . . I just couldn't stop hehe :)  I've really enjoyed my sock-knitting spree - these will be finished this weekend hopefully.  It's been taking me a couple of weeks on average to finish a pair, and I have to say that I love making them!  Can I now officially call myself a 'sock-knitter'?  

Sock-knitters seem to have a slightly separate identity from any other kind of knitters - I'm very eager to be invited into their world! (I think I'm bonkers enough LOL!)  I think what appeals to me most is the variety of colour, pattern, etc. you can play around with on one small garment - so much fun to be had :)  Must remember 'tweedie' work though - my lovely bloggie friend Mojca has given me a fab write-up over on her blog - how sweet is that?  Thankyou Mojca - too kind!!! :) :)

Must dash - things to stuff and things to knit - more creative peeps over yonder :)
Alison x