Festive Fashion!

Hello friends

What do you think?

Is she the height of canine festive fashion...?!

Yves Saint-Laurent once said...

"Fashions fade, style is eternal."

I've told Bella this as she wears her new jumper around the neighbourhood

because I've noticed a few other pups giving her strange looks!

Yes, my mum has been busy with her knitting needles creating this year's Christmas

jumper for Bella.  Previous years have included...

a lovely poinsettia style

and a Father Christmas waistcoat - I admit this was a bargain purchase,

a true fashion faux pas and speedily disposed of! 

Forgive me, a Bella indulgent blog post today!

I received some happy news yesterday.
Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine have featured my website as
'Website of the Month' - really rather chuffed!

My Twelve Days of Christmas Offers is continuing -

lots of you are snapping up some pre-Christmas crafty bargains :)

You just need to sign up to my Newsletter and each morning you will receive an email with
that day's offer and details - it is including all different items, dies, adhesives,
stamps, inks and more.  

(I promise after Christmas Eve I will not be appearing in your inbox every day!) 

I will be back soon with the winning ticket number for December's Charity Add-On Kit!

Take care friends.

Week Four!

Hello friends

Start of week four of Elliott's treatment, in some respects it is going by quickly

but there are days when it feels like we've lived on the M25!

Here he is making chocolate-chip cookies.

I would have shown you the cookies but let's just say...they disappeared quickly!

The postman delivered a lovely surprise for us all...

Kathy who owns Cherwell Leys Alpacas in Hampshire has been incredibly busy 

with her knitting needles! 

 Not only did she knit lots of squares for the Blanket of Love but she also created these

gorgeous dog walking mittens.  I love them - the mitten section at the top also folds over.

So very lovely!  Spot the Layered Poinsettia - she knows me well!

 The other surprises were dog treats for Bella and money wallets for both the boys -

you can imagine the smiles on all their faces!

Kathy - we are so very grateful to you.

We are bowled over by everyone's kindness - you have all made a very difficult time

a great deal easier.

The weekend included taking Bella to the woods - it is very wintry looking now...

Walking on a mulch of leaves...

And that view I take a photo of each time... not many leaves left on the trees now.

I'm hoping that when it snows (because it is bound to come at some point!)

to take a photo of the same spot and then I will have captured every season.

A round up of news again today - stop by tomorrow to see 

Bella's Christmas jumper... !! 

I know how to tempt people back to my blog! ;)

Take care friends - enjoy your week, I suspect a lot of busy people out there.

It's the Weekend!

Hello friends

I don't think I have ever looked more forward to weekends!

We now have two whole days without visiting the hospital,

time to push all that 'stuff' aside and think about nice things - 

we are baking, decorating THAT tree and making some Christmas cards! 

The baking:

Elliott would like to make chocolate chip cookies.

I have a recipe I always use for these, in a rather old Homepride flour cookbook.

We are also using the 'Last Minute Christmas Cake' recipe featured in this month's 

Charity Kit to experiment with a plan... I will keep you posted! 

The tree: 

My tree has never been naked for this long, it needs some

serious attention!  Also the cat is now 'roosting' in it every evening, she needs shifting!

The cards:

Elliott has decided to make some Christmas cards for the nurses, doctors and consultants at

King's and the Royal Marsden - we are using one of my previous designs, this one...

Definitely photos to follow showing Elliott hard at work!

A quick mention regarding the Twelve Days of Christmas Offers over on 

my website.  To receive the discount codes you need to sign up to the Newsletter, 

each day a new code will be sent through to you.  

Some special deals coming your way, I'm having a Spring clean of my stock in mid Winter!

Finally - I want to mention Anne again, she hasn't missed sending Elliott a gift for every

single day of his radiotherapy treatment, it has made such a difference.

Even the nurses know about it now and are intrigued to see what he has got each time.

A million trillion thanks to you!

Take care friends - enjoy your weekend.

Festive Fun!

Hello friends

End of the week round-up of news - firstly let's get festive...

Today is not unlucky Friday the 13th - it is Christmas Jumper Day!!

Today we need to don our Christmas jumpers and pledge £1 to Save the Children.

Mitchell is game....

Elliott and I met with real reindeer yesterday, our local garden centre is playing host to

a couple, they seemed quite snug in their makeshift shelter. 

Very pleased we have reached the end of week 3 for Elliott's radiotherapy.

Yesterday was a CT scan and he sailed through that thanks to a brilliant nurse and

I was allowed to stay in the room with him as long as I wore a lead coat!  

Believe me it was heavy! 

Here he is waiting at the hospital - I think that face says 'not another photo!'

And squares...

more and more are arriving and they are brilliant.  

Many thanks to you lovely knitters out there and for the cards and treats too!

Incredibly kind and thoughtful.

Also today marks the beginning of my 12 Days of Christmas deals.

If you have signed up to my website newsletter you will have received an email with

all the details.  If not, nip over there and sign up as you need some special codes to get 

the brilliant bargains over the next 12 days. 

Not a great deal of crafting going on due to hospital every day but pleased to share

with you my daily snippets of news.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, I'm definitely decorating my Christmas tree!

Take care friends.

Mid-Week Tree Bulletin

Hello friends

This is a Christmas tree dominated blog post!

My tree is up but naked! 

This evening it should finally be decorated.

Actually it's not quite naked...spot the feline decoration....

 This is a yearly battle I have with one of my cats, Darcy.

And a close up of the little minx!

But I am pleased to say there is one decorated tree in the house.

Mitchell wanted a tree in the conservatory and here he is adorning it with 

an amazing amount of tinsel and baubles!  Bella was fascinated with it all.

And how about this for a brilliant tree.. this is at the park where I walk Bella.

Dog-walkers have been adding bits and bobs and even toadstools this year.

Yes, beginning to feel festive now.

The knitted squares have begun to arrive - I am thrilled, thank you so much everyone.

I feel relieved as back on track with Elliott's blanket.  I've decided that it could run into 

two blankets and that is great as I will donate one to the 

Oak Centre for Children at The Royal Marsden.

This is where Elliott attends for his blood tests and clinic appointments and it is such a happy place.

Elliott is doing really well with his radiotherapy, he does get tired but still has a good

appetite (plenty of McDonalds - they will never go out of business with Elliott around!) 

Take care friends - I will be back soon.

Monday - News Round Up

Hello friends

First thing, big thanks to the amazing response to 'The Blanket of Love'.

Many people are clickety clacking their knitting needles creating squares 

I am certain it will be more than 30 so perhaps a couple of blankets can be 

created, wonderful stuff - thank you all so much.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...all the lights are up 

outside the studio/shop. 

Yesterday was my one and only class - despite the water leak, hospital trips and more,

I chose to go ahead.  I wouldn't have been able to do it without my brilliant mum who 

spent the entire day before helping me get organised.

We were making Christmas trees...

not traffic cones!
Here is everything set up ready to go.....

I meant to take photos of everyone crafting but typical me, I got busy chatting.
Valerie very kindly forwarded a picture of her tree once she was home.
Beautiful and I love how she has placed sparkly jewels between the flowers.

We all agreed this project could be adapted to other occasions, imagine it in white
flowers for a wedding table centre, perhaps detailing table numbers.

It felt so good to be back in the swing of things and I cannot wait to get going

again next year with all my plans.

A little reminder - if you haven't already done so, you might like to sign up to receive

my Newsletter - there is going to be a little flurry of them soon...

12 days of Christmas - some very special festive offers.

Click here to visit the website and there is a 'Newsletter' tab under the header.

Take care friends - my Christmas decorations should be out of their boxes tonight!