Advent of the season

OK, so having kids who love chocolate calenders is normal, who doesn't love a treat every morning? but the average, hum drum, character calenders are starting to make me feel like all the excitement and joy is getting sucked dry. the kids only notice whats on the front for 2 seconds and then move on to the chocolates. so whats the alternatives? and is there really time to look at anything else now??
so firstly, to those reading this after Christmas 2014, well done! you are far more organized than i am. unless you are just like me, gathering ideas that may well be lost in the chaos. oops.
for all the rest of us looking at others preparation with envy, don't despair. There is still a few nights to save the day. so i have a small collection of fun calenders. Hopefully these will spark your creative imagination,  and without too much effort to make. plus a few for those who like other peoples handmade efforts ;)

starting with this match box garland  I just love the details!

 Just in case details give you a headache, or you are a guy (not a real man, because they love details) these frugal living tags are simple but certainly do the trick














If you happen to have 100 craft sticks lying around this advent puts them to good use!

 this DIY burlap and tags advent is a traditional choice


















 I love this little french advent with white packages and neon pink string. Perfection.

These free german printables are super cute and will win the heart of most!














Not to be confused as one of your five a day, this gingerbread advent is pretty awesome...nom! nom! nom!/

 Find the free prinables for 25 gifts christ gives to us. A great way to teach (with scriptures) and remember its not all chocolate

what would you put on your numbers? maybe someone you can call? a special treat stuck to the back? or even just a positive word? Its versatile and cute.

 This quick and simple grinch advent, just has to be done! Every child needs to feel the benefits of your heart growing three times bigger.

These Treats come in all shapes, sizes, and actions. and since it all started with a family, why not make family time the main focus every day?

So thats where all the socks went....simple easy and fun. I love it

 Be warned. Adorable viewing below.

 yes, foxes, clouds and mountains in one advent. I need this in my life right now.....








These three have won my heart. i don't know how or where but my home will make space for these. even if they are not used as advents. I think they are awesome enough to be used year round.

 But you don't have to be sucked in by the cuteness alone, and rather than focusing on treats

 how about getting up and doing something positive each day? You can even print these and use them with any of the advents shown.

   This might take the most effort but its worth focusing on the real reason for the treats and season.

 Cheers
Angie xx

guitar hero crochet scarf

over christmas i was given a whole stack of truly inspiring craft books. of these books world of geek craft has taken my interest, alot! 

i have alot of men in my life. brothers, sons, husband, bestfriend, etc. lots. men who are important and interesting and funny. well, to me anyway. and as a crafter i've found it challenging to turn my favourite things (crochet & sewing) into gifts that they would truly appreciate.  i am always on the lookout for new and exciting projects.

 so this brill book has opened up a whole world of cool (not only girly) craft that i hope the lovely men in my life will be proud of. 

my 1st forage is something i located whilst blog hopping.

 a guitar hero crocheted scarf. on craftster.

i was blown away.

i was quite desperate to make it but who for....? thankfully my older brother stepped forward to take the bullet. so here is my own homage to geek chic and guitar heros all over the place.

my Guitar hero 3 - muse knights of cydonia crocheted scarf

the scarf is around 300chain then hdc all the way down the side repeated until you have your desired width.  

then light and dark grey for the background details. i made sure i could fit 4 notes into each 'bar' but you can chose what fits you and the song best.

 

 after some seriously obscure searches i found a proper selection of notescores at scorehero . from this link simply select which difficulty level you want and then pick the track you love.  i tried to follow the score as faithfully as possible. i decided that each 'bar' could fit 4 notes and adapted the original score to suit.  each note is a magic circle with 7 sc then ss into 1st and cast off. i then sewed in the spare threads leaving me with just dots in red, blue, orange, green and yellow.

 having done what felt like a million of these i made chains to the various sizes needed. using a tapestry needle and the black wool i sewed each in place. chain 1st then dot over. 

And that left me with this...

its the closest thing to cool i'll ever get.

cheers angie xx

crochet Christmas puddings

 

Alot has been going on in the fox household over the last few months which i will be sure to share very soon. including weddings in london, manchester contemporary craft fair, time exploring Edinburgh and a rather amazing crochet cupcake throw. all exciting stuff i know.
but right now i thought you might like to try a
 quick crochet pattern i put together for christmas puddings. totally inspired by &made's christmas puddings and twinkie chans cupcake garland on rock and roll brides blog.

you'll need

a small amount of double knit  wool in dark brown, cream and red
a small peice of green felt
a tapestry needle
sharpe needle and thread.

in brown
Ch 3 and sl st to first ch to form loop.
Row 1: Ch 2 (acts as your first dc), work 8 more dc into loop. Turn. (9 sts)
Row 2: (Ch 3, tr) in same st, (2 tr) each in next 8 dc. Turn. (18 sts)
Row 3: (Ch 2, dc) in same st, 1 dc in next st. [(2 dc), 1 dc] 8 times. Don’t break off  leave 6inches for sewing together


using twinkie chans cupcake topping -
in cream
ch 3 and sl st to first ch to form loop.
Row 1: Ch 3 (acts as your first dc), work 5 more dc into loop. Turn. (6 sts)
Row 2: (Ch 3, dc) in same st, (2 dc) each in next 5 dc. Turn. (12 sts)
Row 3: (Ch 3, dc) in same st, 1 dc in next st. [(2 dc), 1 dc] 5 times. (18 sts). Don’t break off.
Rotate your completed half-circle clockwise. On the straight edge of this half-circle, you will be working a row of 4 scallops. Imagine breaking the straight edge into 4 quadrants. (Fig.1)

Row 1: Ch 1, (4 dc) into first 1/8, sl st into 2/8. (4 dc) into 3/8, sl st into 4/8. (4 dc) into 5/8, sl st into 6/8. (4 dc) into 7/8, sl st into 2nd ch of the main piece. leave 6inches for sewing.

 turn the icing/frosting right way up and lay over the brown pudding body, using your six inches extra wool and a tapestry needle weave/sew together as pictured.

cut out 2 'holly leaves' from your green felt,

using sharpe needle and thread sew to top of icing/frosting


make a berry to be sewn over leaves
berry in red wool,
Round 1: Ch 2. Work 6 sc into 1 st ch. Sl st to first sc to join.
Round 2: Ch 1,  sc to end. Sl st to first sc to join. cast off leaving 6inches and turn inside out.
stitch over holly leaves. using end wool as needed

to make a christmas tree decoration chain 10 in any colour you like and weave into back of christmas pudding.

or make loads and attach to a chain. i left the space of about 3inches inbetween each pudding but its entirely up to you and what your using it for, where you want to hang it??? for a miniture garland follow instructions but use a 4ply wool and a 2.5 hook. they would look great on cards, as a brooch, or where ever takes your fancy.

merry christmas
xxx

quilting inspiration

When i was a fresh newly wed in '96 i had dreams of making my very own patchwork quilt. we had very close friends who were real all american quilters and were ready to help, and later push, me to get my quilt done. it has served us well for the last 15years, it is indeed still a lovely quilt (photos will follow soon). but lately i have found myself yearning for something new and beautiful. something that i will not find toy cars in the corners of, thanks to a few frayed seams that the kids love 'posting' into.  That won't therefore nearly knock me out when i shake it out to make the bed! 

so i find myself searching for the perfect quilt, one that will still be loved in 15years. As i take this journey (its not over yet, i don't like to rush) i have found these snipets of inspiration...

    I realise this is not a quilt but jen talbot's  bird silohette  is certainly inspiring and definately the way forward!

made from cut out bird silouettes from various paper scources.

the beauty is in the detail.

 

 see kate sew 

has caught my eye with this fresh bird quilt too

  

.

also made up of a variety of fabric sillouettes.

i love the oranges...

 

this

pottery barn kids quilt 

may be a bit cutesy but i love the trees

 and check out the two birds in the corner.

it just needs the right colours...

 

 Anthropologie are of course leading the way with their   heir loom throw

i really want to be crocheting fun like this. 

 and their  oh to deam duvet  set

is almost worth begging the money out of my husband.

 this is one of my favourites i think...

 

of course i'm not sure it would look quite so lovely in my bedroom with all the washing waiting to be put away??

so moving on...

jenn bell's jellyfish adds something new to the whole mix.

this modern leaf cushion  made from upcycling t-shirts is also brill.

there i so much more out there i will have to keep looking till inspiration hits and sticks.

I can't keep changing my mind you know!!!

cheers angie xx

my drifting (wood) heart

hi all,

i have been hanging out by the sea all summer and even though we live 20minutes drive from the coast it just doesn't feel the same as when we're away. we've been at Lytham st Anns, lancashire (with best friends ben and emma) and around whitby, yorkshire (camping) . Plus a most amazing, and occassionally hair raising, drive through the yorkshire moors. I find all these places so fresh and inspiring that it forces creativity to happen. 

well that and a tight budget. 

      

so whilst enjoying the lovely north beach at St Anns we noticed loads of drift wood. Lying in the sun begging to be collected and made into something beautiful. plus we really needed a special gift for our special friends who let all SIX of us live with them for TWO weeks!! This included coping with my early rising kids (5am, i kid you not). there's nothing like bens dulcit tones telling the kids to 'SHUT UP' in the morning. especially while steve and i are hiding under the covers laughing. sorry ben. and well the small incident involving steve, oakley, a wooden meat tenderiser and bens face... um, yeah.... lets just say everyone is ok now and i am not still laughing so hard it hurts when i think of it... well not every time...

And because they love the beach and coast so very much, and we love them so very much, this is what we decided to make. steve helped with the drilling, he seemed to think i might hurt myself?? 

its amazing what you can do with a wire hanger, driftwood and a drill!

 it was so simple and yet works so well.

i have actually brought enough home to make a matching heart for our home. a little bit twee but i loved it so much i can't wait to get the drill out. I especially love that it can be so personal to where you are and have been. 

but always be careful what you take. we want our beaches to stay beautiful!

cheers 

angie xxx

something beautiful (for peas?)

 this has got to be right up there on my wish list! i mean can you think of anything more pleasurable than serving pea's off one of these little beauties??

 me neither.

i'd just spend all my time looking at them!

 spilling peas...

these are the rather delightful creations of  nina from the netherlands. she uses vintage plates as her canvas but not satisfied with this she has fine art collages, cards and other crafty bits on  ninas blog. 

 she had me at the russian dolls!

not only this but nina does a whole personalised range too.

 

an easy way to bring beauty to any dark corners of your home.

you know the ones i'm talking about.

( the slightly dull areas that are void of colour)

   can be found in nina's etsy store.

 

and if anyone is wondering

'what might make a good birthday or christmas present for angie this year??' 

now you know!!!

cheers angie xx