My seasonal Mantel....

Oh my.... 

the weather has fast changed around here

....frosty nights with very chilly mornings,

not that I'm complaining 

I
LoVe
crisp air mornings with stunning sky's.

We had our first snow here.

It was literally just a sprinkling though

and it had gone just as fast as it came.

 

My scarf is coming along rather nicely....
hopefully ready to wear within days.

It will be very little like the one I set out to make

....not anything new there
I'm just no good at rigidly following instructions.
Maybe that is why I tend to make my own designs
rather then use someone else's. 
When I use a set pattern I always feel the need
to put my own spin onto it.

With the cold weather my yearning for Christmas started. 

So the first decorations snuck into my living-room
a couple of days ago ....just a few. 

I have to confess I'm rather thrilled
that this year I'm feeling the Christmas spirit again,
I was worried it had left me for good

after my lack of seasonal get-go last year!

My mantelpiece was given it's little Christmas spin.
I'm not a great planner
when it comes to my mantel decorations they just happen.
I take a little from here & a little for there
and somehow I'm always in LoVe with the finished look.
Every year I think that that years decorations are the best ever 
....only to find the following year
I think the same of that years decorations.    

2015 Christmas mantel was made with....
a old Christmas favoured
my little white tea light house & bottle brush trees
mixed with a World-map canvases bought this summer
 for a another home decor idea I had....

adding my trusty little red beetle....

 

 skis made from ice-lolly sticks....

two old jewellery boxes....

I especially love the frayed soft blue silk one,
it was handed-down to me by my favoured great aunt
she in-turn had it from her mother my great grandmother,
both were very stylish Lady's in there day.
The Lady's are no longer with us,
I love the idea though
 they are still very much part of our festive season
 trough the box.

 

 ....oh
and I better not forget the chocolate snowman
 ....just hoping he survives the season,
not end up melting in someone's mouth
(not mentioning anyone's name)
 before the month is over.

My favoured Christmas mantel....

until next year that is!

"NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS" 

XXXX

Paris on my mind....

 

As the news was unfolding on my TV screen late Friday evening 

disbelieving what I was seeing....

I was feeling

shocked....  dismayed.... angry... sad....

overwhelmingly sad,

that once again, people going about there everyday life

were murdered in cold blood. 

I wasn't surprised though,

I have come to realise years ago,

there are people that just want to hate

 they desire to spread fear & misery wherever they can.

I have long stopped asking why,  

the answers would never make sense to any 

reasonable person anyhow. 

And just like after school shootings I am not interested 

in the perpetrators names, faces or there life stories. 

They are not worthy of my time.

My thoughts are with

....the victims of Fridays atrocities 

....the beautiful city of Paris and its people.

My thoughts are with 

.....people who just wanted to enjoy 

the little things that make life 

beautiful & worth living for....

meeting family & friends 

eating out 

listening to a concert

taking a stroll on a mild evening

My thoughts are with

 ....people that embrace living life
in a free Europe!

"Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité"


 I for one have decided

the best way to honour those victims 

and to defeat the haters is

to 

LoVe & LiVe 

life to the full.

wishing you

♥ peace ♥

XXXX

A little blanket Ta-Dah....

my last post made me realise....
I'm very good at sharing the beginnings of my projects
but not so great at showing you the finished pieces.
Thinking about it....
I often get so excited with my finished items
I have to use them
then & there forgetting to take any photos.  

Perfect example of this is my Babushka Rose blanket.

In March 2013 I shared it with you in the making
but I never had a Ta-Dah show-off it is so well worthy of.


So I'm thinking....
no time like the present ....

Ta-Dah 

 My Babushka Rose blanket in all it's glory.

Gosh.... I like this blanket so much.
No I am head over heels in LOVE with it!!!

Let me give you a bit of a behind-the-scenes to this blanket.
 Firstly let me say
I'm no crocheter by any stretch of the imagination,
I'm a fabriholic and sewing is my first love....
knitting & crocheting are hobby's I dip in & out of.
All that said though I do enjoy crocheting very much
I just find I need my patterns drawn rather than written.

We are a family loving to snuggle under blankets
any time of the year whilst watching the telly.
And no matter how many blanket we have
there is always room for one more.
In the past I have always opted for sewing our snuggle blankets
but after having discovered a little over two years ago
the amazing world of crocheting blogs I was drawn
  to try something new. 

Initially I had planned on a more traditional granny square design
but when I came across a photo of the Babushka Rose blanket by
Heidi from www.sewingdaisies.com.au 
I was smitten,
 then finding the pattern on her blog drawn
rather than written made me jump for joy.
I just had to give this one a go.

Quite a few month's, a couple of changes to the original pattern
and forty-two roses later came my biggest challenge.
Deciding on which method to use for put the squares together.
This is my first crochet blanket (but definitely not my last)
as well as my first exploration into the world of granny squares
so I found it difficult to visualize the finished look, 
holding my project up a few more month.
Sometimes though you just have to allow yourself time

to make the right choice.

 

I am so very pleased I did!

I had at first envisioned a much big fancy border,
but looking at the roses joined altogether, I changed my mind.
Sometimes less is really more,
this border allows the roses to be the stars that they deserve to be.
I loved working on this blanket and
crocheting makes such a nice change from sewing one. 

  
My colour choices for this blanket
were influenced by our other snuggle blankets.
A mix of soft pink with cream pale green & coral muted yellow
and a pooping red framed by baby blue all surrounded
with a dark denim blue.  
Sorry I don't have the actual colour no. any more.

For yarn I used Superfine Marino wool by Lana Grossa,
 

Here you have it

my
very very VERY
LOVELY
Babushka Rose blanket,
better late than never.

SOOOOOOOO worth a little Ta-Dah post!!!

Have a beautiful weekend. 

xxxx