Putting the Icing on the Gingerbread Man

Another of my House-Mouse stamps today, this one is called 'Finishing Touches'.  I used my polychromos pencils to colour the image and then I mounted it on gold card.

The backing paper comes from a Dovecraft paper stack called 'Winter Blooms'.  The sentiment came from a 'Me to You' stack.

The flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts and the snowflake die is by Cheery Lynn.

Dionne

Lucy's Bunny

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and a big thank you for sticking with me thought my spell of blogging madness.

Yesterday I told you about my attempts to find the right size knitted toy to fit my niece's elf clothes.  This bunny is one of my failed attempts.  By failed I only mean that she was too large to fit the clothes but I really adored her, she is so sweet.

I followed the 'Little Cotton Rabbits' pattern, the only difference was that I used chunky yarn and size 3mm needles.  It was very tight on the needle and I do not think I would be tempted to make this size again.

Her dress is Kirsty's Sailboat Dress, such a fun design, especially in those nautical colours.

A quick snap of her back to show you her fabulously fluffy tail popping through her dress.  The dress is made from Double Knit yarn.

Oww, and one of her without her dress.

Finally, I have photographed her with a couple of the bunnies made in Double Knit so you can see the difference in size.

Dionne

All Wrapped Up

It seems that I spoke too soon yesterday when I said that we were not suffering the storms the rest of the country were experiencing.  Last night Storm Eleanor hit us, bringing high winds and even more rain.

I am afraid that I still posting my Christmas cards, but I am almost done ...... I promise!

Oops, another card with bad lighting, I am so sorry but the backing paper should be a glorious Christmas red.  It is from a Dovecraft paper stack called 'Winter Blooms'.  All of these fabulous flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I cannot recall where I got this stamp from, I have had it some time and my memory is not what it was!  I coloured it with my polychromos pencils and mounted it first on gold card and them bronze glitter card.  The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.

Dionne

Cuddly Teddy Bear

It is the start of a New Year and the weather here is so utterly miserable.  I know I should not complain, we may be have endless heavy rain, but least it is not snowing or blowing a hurricane - as it is in other parts of the country.  How is the weather where you are?

Today I wish to share with you a little teddy bear I made for my niece.  Those of you who follow my blog will remember my niece and her Christmas elves.  Last July, when I gave her her all of the dresses and jumpers I had knitted for her and her elves she said that she thought it would be a great shame if, when her children grew out of the fun they have with their 'Elf on the Shelf' antics, the clothes I had made were simply forgotten about.  She wondered whether she could find a doll they would fit.

This gave me an idea, I wondered if I could adjust my Little Cotton Rabbit pattern to fit these slightly larger clothes (you will recall that I made the clothes in Double Knit instead of 4 ply so they would fit te elves).  I gave you a brief glimpse of my labours to find the correct size yesterday.  Sadly none of those bunnies were the size I was looking for.  I thought I had been defeated, but a search of the internet told me that there is a thickness of yarn I had not heard of before - Aran, I had always thought this was a pattern not a yarn.  So, I ordered some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, which is a fabulously soft Marino Wool and Cashmere mix.  The size was perfect and it knitted up a real treat.

Here are a few photographs of this sweet teddy wearing one of the new dresses I made for her. This dress pattern is called 'Tiny Buds', it was designed by the talented SuzieMarie.  All of her designs are available free from Ravelry.

In the rear view you can see the tiny button fastening.  If you look closely you will see that it is a tiny heart shape.

Her other new dress is taken from Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits - Girl Fox' pattern. This dress design is called 'A Flowery Frock'.  As before, I made both dresses with Double Knit yarn.

A closer look at the new dresses.  I think the tiny buds are so sweet and the tulip design is very pretty, don't you agree?

I took this next photograph so you can see how much larger this bear is compared to the normal 'Little Cotton Rabbit' size, the only thing I did differently from the pattern was to use the Aran wool instead of Double Knit.

And finally, because I never made any shorts for the elves, I knitted several pairs of shorts for teddy to wear with all of the elf jumpers.

I really enjoyed knitting with the aran wool and think it will not be the last time I use it.

Dionne

And the Choir Sings Out

Phew!   I had forgotten that trying to think of something different to say every day is hard work because before the end of November I had not posted anything for such a long time.  Thank you so much for sticking with me.

Another of my new House-Mouse stamps today, this one is called 'Angel Mice'.  I have often wondered what these two might be singing.  I coloured them with my polychromos pencils and mounted it on gold card.  I added a few red flat backed gems to the holly berries.

The snowflake die is from Cheery Lynn and the poinsettia flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The backing paper is from a 'Me to You' paper pad, the rest is from my stash.

Dionne

A Taste of Things to Come

The last few weeks I have been blogging twice a day, I must admit that I have found it quite difficult to think of something different each time and sometimes I ended up simple stating the facts.  One of my Christmas presents is a book about blogging and it seems that I have been going about it all wrong, I do not know whether I shall every get it right, I find it hard to be witty on paper and my typing skills could really do with some improvement, but I somehow think you are stuck with me.

Last year I took time out from card making to experiment with knitting.  I became quite addicted to making knitted toys, there are two designers I am particularly fond of 'Mary Jane's Tearooms' and 'Little Cotton Rabbits'.  I made quite a lot of the later as Christmas presents but was not able to share them with you for obvious reasons.

I hope to rectify this over the next few weeks.  Today I thought I would just give you a taste of things to come.

Although the name suggests that 'Little Cotton Rabbits' should be just rabbit patterns there are many more animals in the series and, surprize, surprize they are not made of cotton.  In the lead up to Christmas I made 19 of these fabulous little toys to give as Christmas presents. 

I also experimented with size.  It all started with me trying to find a size which would fit the elf clothes I made for my niece in the summer.  A bunny made in DK alpaca wool averages something like 11 inches tall.  I wanted something a little larger so I tried chunky wool, I had never knitted with this yarn before and it came out a lot larger than I expected - the lovely piebald bunny is 18 inches tall.  

Next I tried knitting the chunkie wool on smaller needles, at 14 inches high it was still too tall.  I did not expect my next experiment to work but I could not resist making one in 4 ply yarn.  This one was about 10 inches high and it looked so sweet.

I will be back to let you have a better look and these, and other, knitted toys.  I hope you will enjoy seeing them.

Dionne 

Dear Santa

Happy New Year to all of my friends, I hope 2018 brings you and your family health and happiness.  Most of the UK will be back to work tomorrow after a nice long holiday and a week of eating left overs.  How was it for you?

As you know, I was very late posting my Christmas cards last year and I still have several to share with you, so let's crack on.

 I have to apologise for the poor quality of this photograph, the light was very bad when I took it.  The image is one of Mo Mannings called 'Not Even a Mouse. which I coloured with my polychromos pencils and mounted on silver card.  The backing papers was from a 'Me to You' paper pack.

The little poinsettia flowers were from Wild Orchid Crafts and the ribbon and sentiment were from my stash.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Dionne xx