10 years wed, jewellery making, Cath Kidston dresses, and Anglesea Abbey

Yesterday, it was our 10th wedding anniversary. Time flies doesn't it? We just went out to our local restaurant Cinta, because whilst in an ideal world we'd fly off for a weekend - in the real world there is no-one to look after our kids (and we'd miss them anyway). I wore my peacock dress that I made last year, with my new necklace (also me-made) and my new vivian that I just finished that morning. John looked in the wardrobe (gasp - he never looks in the wardrobe) and found a shirt that is just a little tight these days :)

Also earlier that morning, I finally finished assembling some resin jewellery I made. Its not great, but  I'm new at this. I really wanted a sewing machine necklace, and I couldn't find one I liked. So I made some. 

Noah proved himself a literary genious (so proud of my baby) It still stuns me how fast children can go from scrawling just their name, to being able to read and write sentences. 

I bought a new dress from the Cath Kidston outlet. I've been waiting for this one to come in for ages. It was in the online sale, but its always cheaper when it gets to the outlet. Its a bit of a gamble, because they don't always come in, and they aren't always in my size (actually they are never in my size, but they are generously sized which works to my advantage as I can squeeze into a 16) I just love this fabric in the green. I am currently making a bag in the dark red version of it, which will be posted once complete.

Its a lovely comfy dress. They make the armscyes (armholes) big enough for bigger arms - there is nothing more uncomfortable than armpit rub. It doesn't cling to my tights either. Bonus.

We also took the boys for a bit of fresh air at Anglesea Abbey, which is about a 25 minute drive from us. It was more succesful than the trip to London. You can't climb stuff in the Natural History museum (although there was plenty of climbing on the pirate ship in the Diana Memorial Park) 

Give a boy a tree and some sticks and he is a happy boy.

Time I caught up - bags and more bags!

Its been a while since I posted. I've been so busy sewing you see! So this post is all about the bags.

First up - the camera bag. This is self designed as I just wanted something to fit my new camera. Its lined with soft and stable for padding, and the external fabric is a laminated cotton. I added a little pocket for the usb cable. It doesnt has straps as its just for storage - you can carry it about using the the camera strap, or attach a separate strap.
(which I didn't make, because I didn't need to, but I could do!

Next up. The telephone crossbody. I need to sort out my camera settings as the colours of this make it look garish but it just isn't. 

Thirdly, the very British satchel. A classic style with a very English theme. 

And finally... the Vintage panda. This is for me. It is our 10th Wedding anniversary tomorrow and we're going out tonight and this is coming with me. It took me a long time. There was much swearing. Vinyl is a bu**er to sew with, especially on a non-industrial machine. I persevered because I knew in my head that it would look just right when finished. I used the Vivian pattern from swoon with strap modification. 

A very happy new year to you!

Did you have a good christmas? We did, although the kids were desperate to see their friends by the end of the holidays. The company of adults is not that much fun for them!

I'll start with craft stuff in case you popped by to see that! Honestly there hasn't been much sewing. It would be nice to say I had lots of sewing time over the two weeks I was off work, but actually I didn't. I got one thing completed, and that was this -  a necessary clutch wallet. I really love it and its been on my to-do list for quite a long time so I'm glad I got one done. 

 

The only 

I used the Amy Butler fabric for the outer, and then some sewing themed fabric inside. 

The only other thing I've gotten started on is my shetland tweed rosie (no pics yet) and this little crossbody which is not yet finished. 

The fabric is a Melody Miller cotton-linen blend and I love it! It will get a strap once the hardware arrives.

So back to what we did on our holidays (one of my favourite albums I'll have you know) 

Just before school broke up, they had the christingle service at school, which is sort of a quiet reflectful one. I didn't make it this year, but a friend took this photo for me as Joey got to light the christingle candle for his class

We went up north to visit my mum and sister for the run up to christmas. Stayed at Redworth Hall, which is a bit of a treat, but I thought it was a really good deal. We got breakfast and dinner included, and a nice suite to stay in. They have a pool and an indoor play area for the kids. 

This is Noah with his dolly stash from nanna Maxey! Honestly I don't know why I didn't put the roof box on the car before we left. I should have known we'd be sitting amidst piles of presents!

there was also considerable amounts of cookie decorating happening at nannas!

We did a quick trip to Durham. They are currently building a lego scale model of the Cathedral (in the cathedral) and for a small donation you can add a certain number of bricks and therefore be part of the build. Both the boys did it :)

I also made a flying visit to the Bignall household (where I spent much of my youth) to visit Widgey who was visiting her folks - she is normally resident in Pittsburgh. Known to everyone else as @Frances_Sand . I met her lovely fiance Nick (who wasn't yet her fiance on the evening I visited - he proposed the next day on a trip to London) We reminisced and giggled, and then I had to go back to the hotel... 

Christmas eve we bombed it back to Goddy in order to make it in time for the Christmas nativity at St Marys. I have NO decent shots of this (I did get a fab new camera in the christmas sales though) and couldn't get any of the Innkeeper (Joey) I am pleased to say that Noah wore the donkey outfit rather than the sheep outfit to take Mary to Bethlehem. (He was bribed!!)

Christmas day I wore my swirl dress from beckys swirlalong

I have no full body shot I'm afraid, but it continues with a lot of scotty dogs!

There was much present opening, which was repeated when grandma came to visit with the girls on the following weekend.