It's my Birthday! :D

Hi,

Well, it was actually my birthday yesterday :P But I am bringing you my birthday post today.

First up has got to be my amazing cake, of course lovingly baked and crafted by my lovely dad. This year my cake was ice cream themed (because it is one of my fave desserts!) resembling a giant tub of ice cream and an amazing huge ice cream cone!!!!:

The ice cream cone is not even hollow! It was a moulded chocolate cone my dad made which he then added chocolate fingers to to strengthen and filled with homemade fudge sauce, cakes and biscuits before coating in white chocolate and broken wafers. Here is a cross section:

It is all soo tasty (as usual) and I am very much enjoying snapping bits off my giant ice cream cone and nibbling on them!

THANKS DAD :D 

My brother also got me some amazing gifts including a grumpy cat cuddly toy and a star wars jawa figure (an in joke with me and him :p) abd yummy american candy and spreads- my favourite! My parents got me some chocolate too:

I love grumpy cat!! (I am not sure she loves me though! :p)

I got some cool fashion books and bits which I can't wait to start reading and using!!!:

My family are always so generous to me I feel so loved and lucky to have them and love them very much. I couldn't believe how many gifts I had- I think everyone went mad because it was my 20th :p look at all these cool food makers I now have to try:

I am trying to be healthy so am starting with the ice lolly maker :-)

My love for Hamsters wasn't forgotten either!:

And look at these adorable softies.

THANK YOU TO MY FAMILY!!!

I also want to say thank you to my friends for

 Sending lots of birthday wishes and a lovely parcel of gifts from a college friend in the post and a knit your own boyfriend kit from my secondary school friend :p It is so nice to know you all and have you as my friends :)

Speak to you all again very soon I hope you are happy and well and thank you for reading my blog and being my friends too!

Bye xxx

I am very happy!

Hi everyone,

I am very happy for many reasons :) Firstly because of the wonderful surprise I got yesterday! I was 'sneak attacked' on etsy (which is actually a good thing) my shop was chosen and promoted on the sneak attack blog by the wonderful sneak attack etsy team (as my shop is fairly undiscovered by most)- and guess what- because of this promotion I made my first sale!!! I also found out about the whole scheme and joined the team do I can find out about other cool small shops and help get them noticed like they helped me :) here is the blog: http://handmademovement.blogspot.co.uk they were promoting lots of good shops so check it out for some good etsy gift ideas!

Secondly I got my papers yesterday to confirm that I definitely passed my first year of uni. Both my friends got into uni too! So good news all round and a huge congrats to my friends :-)

Thirdly I have made more progress on the red dress 1/2 scale I have had as a long term project at home.  Here is how the gathering of the skirt is going, it was kind up a made up process of pinching and twisting the larger petticoat to gather it up to be the same size as the lining :) It is just like I wanted though and I think it is quite effective:

Fourthly (if fourthly is even a thing you can say? :p)  I am enjoying spending lots of time with my lovely family! We walked over the 02 the other day. That was a cool experience.  Here are some of the shots of the view. Walking up was actually quite hard it was quite steep (the walkway):

And I am off with my family to Lyme Regis tomorrow so that should be fun to explore together! :) 

I hope you are all happy as well :-)

I will be back to chat with Al of you my lovely readers super soon,

Byeee xxx

Happy valentines :)

Hi eveyone,

I hope you all had a great Valentines day with your loved ones yesterday :)

 

I had a lovely day with my family. My dad treated me to this cool multicoloured rose (and a box of lindt chocolates!). It is a real rose and everything but they used coloured water to make it these amazing colours:

 

 

 

It was called a Harlequin rose. I love it soo much!!! it reminds me of cirque du soleil, it is very theatrical :P

 

Talking about flowers, this week (as it has been reading week for me) I have had some time to work a bit more on a little half scale dress I have been working on- I designed it, then draped the pattern and now I am making it up in the real fabric :0) Here it is so far, the skirt is inspired by petals:

 

It is also inspired by the dress in Disney's Princess and the frog (I love that movie!). When I have finished the dress (it will be ribbon laced at the back and may even have some form of sleeves :-) I am making a petticoat to go underneath to puff out the bottom for the petals to drape over. I have been really careful with the construction and pressing and am really proud of it so far :-)

 

This week I also finished the new stock I have been working on for my shop- some of my little knitted Easter chicks!:

 

 

I have uploaded four sets of two; one set of light green (pictured above) and one set in pink, blue and yellow- All at only £2.50 per set.

 

Do pop over and take a look: Click here :)

 

Today me and my mum went to see the Isabella Blow fashion exhibition at Somerset House in London. It was really fantastic- so many amazing hats and dresses to look at many of them quite outrageous making it all even more fun! :) Then we went for an afternoon tea at Hush Brasseries in St Paul's which I treated my mum too, We ate it all before I remembered to take a picture though :P It was very nice there were little scones and mini macaroons. Hahaha I didn't know I liked macaroons until today and now I have a craving for more! The slice of mars bar cheesecake you get at the end of the tea was tasty too :0)

 

Tomorrow me and my family are going out for a meal (Hehehe, I will try to remember pictures this time :P) as it is my last day of reading week then i am going back to uni- to do more corsets, yay :)

 

Talk to you all again soon and I hope you all have a lovely Sunday,

 

Bye xxxx

 

 

Christmas catch-up!

Hello everyone,

I had quite a whirlwind of a Christmas- which, looking around here on blog land it seems everyone else did too :)

 

I had a great Christmas- it was so lovely spending the whole day with my family, eating lots of lovely food, watching telly and giving each other prezzies!

 

My family and friends were extremely generous and also thoughtful so I would like to thank them all very much and say that I am lucky and thankful to have them all around me xxx

First up on my Christmas catch up is Christmas eve :) Here is a picture of the white chocolate, vanilla and strawberry yule log (the recipe I made up through my mini knitted yule logs :P) I made for my nan to take round when me and my family went round in the evening:

 

 

Haha, I made the holly decoration from icing to make it look like an exact big version of my knitted pattern, lol :P I thought it tasted really nice, I will definitely be making another one in the new year sometime. Very sweet and tasty :)

I may even like it better than milk chocolate log.... mmmm, a hard decision..... I think I'll just stick to having both :P  My nan thought it was cool to have a different version for a change :)

 

For my aunt, whose house we went round before we went to my nans (Christmas eve was busy this year!) I made two of my little Christmas tree decorations:

 

She hung them straight on her tree :) Yay! :-)

Hehe, now on to Christmas day, and first up, these little cuties:

 

 

Aren't they sweet! They were presents from my parents, because they know how much I love hamsters :3

 

I also got Norman (hehe I named him, and also decorated him :) to help me with my life drawing:

 

And my nan got me another lalaloopsy, with beautiful red hair, to be friends with scoops my other lalaloopsy:

 

They are getting along well :)

 

My build a bear (Georgia) even got a gift this year, thanks to my (Wonderfully fabulous!) brother:

 

So adorable- her little elf boots match the ones I made for myself, that made me smile a lot!

 

I got some wonderful costume and fashion books and things too, as well as my new pride and joy- my half scale mannequin!!!!!!:

 

Which I have already started to practice my draping and patternmaking on! :D My parents were worried it was too small as they thought half scale was bigger but when I opened it I assured them that it was utterly perfect! It is really great for practicing patternmaking on as you don't use up so much fabric.

 

My Dad made a fabulous Christmas dinner as usual and we even tried some of the cranberry and orange stuffing with it that I put in the hamper I put together for my family :) And in the evening I had some quality streets and chocolate from my stocking, so overall a fantastic day!

 

I would just like to thank my wonderful family and friends again for their generosity and to say that just being able to spend time with them is honestly enough of a gift, I love them all very much xxx

 

And thank you to all readers of my blog too for popping over and saying hi to me too, I hope you are all having a lovely festive time surrounded by family and friends too :) xxx

 

Last bit on my catch up before I go, today me and my mum went to see Dirty Dancing at the Piccadilly Theatre in London, we had front row seats (surprisingly front row was cheaper!?) which meant we had an amazing view, up so close I could see all the costumes and the show was really, really, great- I recommend it highly if you can get down there to see it :)  Very fun, and lots of good dancing!

 

I will speak to you all again soon, I am off to my other Aunty's house tomorrow so that will be nice, we always go for a walk to the shops to do some sale shopping so that is fun to see what bargains we can find :P

 

Byeeeeeee XxXxXoooXoOoO 

 

A festive dinner party!

Hi,

 

Last night we had some family friends over for a festive dinner party :) I worked hard on the table runner I mentioned that me and my family were making in my last post and managed to get that all together ready for the occasion and I also managed to finish making the 8 mini Christmas yule log (on my free patterns page :D) place settings that I wanted to give to everyone too.

 

It all looked nice on the table I think, I was really pleased with the pattern I made for the table runner, It was perfect size (I took measurements :) for our table and the pointed edges hung over the ends of the table nicely:

 

 

Now I will show you a close up of each of the rectangles that me and my family decorated individually.....

 

This is my brothers:

 

He wanted to go for a rustic look and I think he did a really good job :-)

 

 

This is my mums:

 

It really makes me smile when I look at it because it is so much my mums style- it reminds me of her and Christmas- two things I love! :P

 

My dads rectangle now:

 

This one is very much my dads style so I really like it :) The house underneath the big star is meant to be our house and the little car coming towards it is the 'Amazon' van delivering all our prezzies we ordered online :P Hehehe :)

 

And last (but hopefully not least :0P) is my rectangle:

 

 

I did some decorated baulbaules, which I stuffed to make them rounded and stand away from the fabric like real baulbaules :) I didn't even realise it but when I looked at my finished rectangle again I realised I had basically done a baulbaule style for each of my family members, lol! The pink beaded one for my mum, the green one for my dad, the yellow chain stitch star one for my brother and the pink girly heart gem one for me! Hehe, it shows I am always thinking about them- even subconsciously :P

 

I really enjoyed making the table runner with my parents and brothers designs included, I love sewing (can you tell? :)- seen as it is what I am studying at uni :P) so it was really lovely to have them join in and share my passion with them. I am hoping maybe next year we can do another family project, maybe something out of my comfort zone even- like some woodwork, then my dad can share the tips and tricks instead of me :)

 

My little yule logs were received really well so that made me super happy as I did work hard when making the pattern to make them as cool and realistic as possible. I added little labels for each person and of course popped a choccy inside:

 

 

I am actually going to try and make a real, edible, version of my winter wonderland mini knitted yule log! I don't think the recipe for it actually exists- it just looked nice in knitted version :P

I got a big vanilla and strawberry Swiss roll, which I am then going to coat in white chocolate and after that add a final coating of vanilla buttercream, before decorating with a bit of holly and a dusting of icing sugar (rather than glitter, lol!).

 

I am hoping it will be delicious, my nan and mum and granddad don't really like chocolate cake so when I looked at my winter wonderland mini roll I thought why not make it in real life- it will hopefully be a non-chocolate cake lovers perfect Christmas yule log :-D

 

I will put up pictures and let you know what it tastes like- just in case any of you decide you may want to whip up my random creation :oP

 

I am off now to get ready to go out to the Olympia horse show which my parents booked for us all for some Christmas family fun. I am excited!

 

I hope you are all well :)

 

See you soon,

 

Bye XxXxXxXxXxX

I like christmas... can you tell?

Hi,

I hope you all are having a good week so far :) I go home from uni tomorrow night, my dad is coming to pick me up in the evening! I am sooo excited, we will literally be 'driving home for christmas'! :P And when I get home I am presenting the hamper I have been putting together for many weeks for my family to them, hehehe fingers crossed they like everything otherwise I will have a lot to try and eat myself :P

 

I have lots of stuff planned that I want to do before Christmas (I have making up to do since for the last two years due to revising for A Levels I only took Christmas day off and now I have a whole month!) I have got to make some different bits for family and friends we will be seeing, cook some festive treats, set up my train set, make a Christmas outfit for me to wear (and look glam in :P) on Christmas eve, buy some Christmas clothes, read some sewing books, do a little bit of work, go to the tailors and dressmakers I used to go to- 4 times :), wrap prezzies and in general spend a lot of fun time with my lovely family!

(Hehehe and do lots of blogging of course :P)

 

Today I only had a half day at college, I came home and after I had had my lunch I was at a bit of a loose end seen as I have done my packing for home already because I am so excited! So I thought I would get started on a Christmassy project I decided I wanted to do this morning- make myself some elf boots :P:

 

 

Hehe, they are not done or anything yet, I just drafted up a pattern and then made a toile (tester) of one foot to check the style/fit. I think they will work out though so that made me happy. When I have perfected the pattern and made a full pair I am going to add a fun cuff of felt with points, which hang down :) I am also going to add a bell to the tip of the curved toes for extra fun and to give that true elf feel :P

 

Hehehe, I am off to do more dreaming about Christmas and my last bit of prepping for tomorrow!

 

Talk to you again soon,

 

Byeeeeeeeeeee xxx

 

It's my birthday!!!

Hello,

Yes, today is officially my Birthday! :D I have had a fabulous day with my lovely family :-)

 

My Dad as usual amazed me with the birthday cake he made for me- it was so lovely to look at and to eat! (though my eyes were too big for my belly and I ate a bit too much :P)

 

Here it is in all its lovely leopard print and cute little mouse/bunny glory :D:

 

 

Isn't he adorable :3

 

Also as usual I was blown away by my family's generosity and thoughtfulness in the presents they got me because having them is a gift enough- and all the lovely stuff they got me ready for uni too- I seriously thought I might wake up and have stuff taken off me instead of getting more gifts as it seems like I have had more than my lot already!

 

Here are some pictures of my wonderful gifts- Thank you to all my lovely family and friends for all of them:

 

 

I am soo excited about reading all of these books :) I have already gained inspiration for my Halloween costume from the fashion book my friend got me :P

 

Hehe, two Kawaii fuzzy Llamas and a fluffy jacket to match- what more could a girl ask for? ;)

 

My mum got me the two little craft kits and my wonderful, lovely, brilliant brother got me the Hamtaro Bijou plush (he also got me a very cool Domo poster which I will post a picture of when it is up and the words he wrote inside my card he made for me were so lovely that they made me cry! And on top of all of that he offered to buy me a film and a Mcflurry- because I love them so much!)

 

I can now top up my chocolate stash thanks to my friends and dad (my friends also got me a pretty picture frame with a picture in it of all of us at my Halloween party dressed up- haha, it is coming to uni with to make me smile each day)

 

Some lunchboxes and luxurious bath stuff courtesy of my dad, I love the cat lunchbox as it reminds me of the Lucky Chinese cats!

 

And last but by far not least some cool Dvds and Cds. I have been wanting to watch the films for ages- mainly for all the amazing costumes in them and who doesn't love a bit of Andre Rieu? :P

 

Thank you again to my family and friends as my day would not have been so  special without you to share it with xxx

 

Hahaha, I hope all of you have had a wonderful day as well, see you all soon with more Innocent hat knitting news!

 

See you all soon,

 

Bye xxx 

Jubilee pin cushion, nans birthday present and naming a turkey!

Hi everyone,

On Tuesday I finished the last of my AS exams so since then I have had tons of lovely wonderful crafting time! :D I have got so much done, It's amazing how many hours there are in the day when they are not full of revision, hehehe :-)

I finished my Jubilee pin cushion:

I didn't add a message to the back in the end as I liked it just plain :)

I also managed to start this tote bag:

(Hehehe, you can see where I have had the embroidery circle! :P)

I stitched the bag using the sewing machine after cutting out the fabric using a cardboard template I made from using another bag I had as a guide. Now I am just stitching the flower design on the front and then I have to add the handles. I think I might stitch a little smiley face on the flower :)

I am making it for my nan as a present for her 70th birthday, I will keep you all updated on my progress! I hope my nan likes it when it is done :0)

Some of you were probably now wondering about the 'name a turkey' part of the title, well let me explain.....

Before my exams my mum said as a treat for working hard at the end of my exams I could have a little treat (she also bought me some more vegan marshmallows to munch on during my revision :). As many of you will know I am vegetarian and I also am often concerned on the welfare of animals in the food industry and one day when I was looking up what producers used free range eggs, out of interest, and by chance came across the site of a place called Hen Heaven (http://www.henheaven.org/). It is a sanctuary for rescued battery hens and turkeys. I thought the rescue work they did was brilliant and when I saw their name a turkey appeal I knew what I wanted my exam finishing gift to be!!!

I had great fun trying to think of a name and in the end came up with 'Lord Gobble Gobble' hehehe, I thought it sounded very regal! :0) Yesterday my mum paid and sent off the name I chose and hopefully I will get a certificate through the post  sometime soon :) One day maybe I may even vist little 'Lord Gobble Gobble' :0)

I am going to do some more stitching on my nans birthday gift and dream about all the cute little turkeys at Hen Heaven :) I hope you are all having a nice week,

See you soon!

Bye xxxxx

Chocolate Easter egg making!

Hi!,

Today was the day I got to go Chocolate Easter egg making :D I had been excited about this for  agggeeesss so was very pleased the time had finally come! I Came up  with my design last night (it was inspired by the sea and jewellery :) in the centre I wanted to put a chocolate star and two chocolate sea horses facing each other and then different sweets surrounding the centre and finally some piped white chocolate decoration, I was not sure how much of my idea I would be able to create in real life but our expert chocolate making teacher was really nice and in the end I managed to create my design exactly :-) Here is my chocolaty creation:
  

It really was soo fun! They had mini vats of chocolate which we had to fill our molds with and then huge bags of sweets to decorate our chocolate with.

Hehehe, I signed the back in white chocolate too :P

It was very funny when we were in the chocolate making room as there are glass windows you can look through to see the people making the chocolate and there were lots of people looking at me and my family, hehehe!

Here are my mum, dad and brothers creations too:

Egg on the left is my Dads (mine is in the middle :P) my mums is on the right and then the big bar in the front is what my brother made he decorated a quarter for each of us with our fave sweets on so I promised I would share my egg with him too! :0)

I'm off to eat a little bit more now, it is extremely delicious! I would share it with you all if I could :)

I hope everyone is having a nice week,

see you all soon,

Bye! xxxx

P.S. A big huge massive thank you to Tricia who awarded me the Liebster blog award the other day!!! :D You should definately go vist her blog: here! she has got some lovely makes on there! :)

Families Valentines gifts- all finished!

Hello all my lovely readers! :)

Last week I finished my mums valentines book mark gift, meaning all my valentines gifts for my family are complete :D I have really enjoyed making them all, I hope my family like them :0)

Last night I wrapped them all up and added 'Handmade with love labels' here they are- all ready for the 14th of Feb!

For my mum I decided to do little birds in the end. The pattern is a modified version of a little bird motif from an old cross stitch magazine my nan gave me a while ago :-)

I am sooo excited about giving them to my mum, dad and brother, so far I have managed to keep everything a tip top secret....... Now all I have to do is get them to the Isle of Wight, where we are going on holiday to tomorrow!!!!! :D

Wooooo, I am excited about that too :P As many of you will know I visit there regularly and really love it <3

Whilst there I am going to look for some bits for a special giveaway when I get back

Hehehehe, see you all soon,

Byeeeeeee XXXXXXX