Attic24

Early Start

This morning I woke up at 3.35am needing to go take a pee, and was suddenly and frustratingly very wide awake. So after lying in bed staring at the ceiling for about forty minutes, I decided I may as well get up and make the most of what is quite a special and usually unseen time of day.

Daylight was arriving, soft and golden, and all was quiet and peaceful. 

I came downstairs and made myself some steaming hot tea in my huuuuuuge morning mug, with some toast and jam (Bonne Maman "Berries and Cherries", now what a mighty fine preserve that is) and wondered for a while what to do with my wide awake self.
J's MacBook was on the dining table so I decided on an inspiring little stroll through two of my absolute favourite Flickr group pools (this one and this one)....

....and then I knew just what to do.
Of course.
The most relaxing, soothing, enjoyable thing to do with a spare hour or two :: some gentle blanket-making.

So there we were, five am, just the two of us.
Me and BB.
And it was quite blissful.

I hooked and drank tea as the sun rose in the sky and the light began to stream in through the front window.
For an hour and a half I was alone, then one by one my family came to join me.
J first at 6.30am, drinking his morning coffee and reading yesterdays papers.
Then a sleepy Little Lady tiptoed in at 7am and tucked herself cosily at the other end of the sofa where she could snuggle her feet under BB and watch as I worked.
And finally at 7.30am, Little Man joined us, thundering down the stairs and bounding in like an over excited puppy.

Ahhhhhh I Love Love LOVE weekends!
Even the ones with an Early Start.

Happy Saturday everyone!
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Reasons to be Cheerful # 16 :: Mummy Sweets

I love sweets. I mean, I really, really love them. I love pretty much all sweets with the exception of liquorice which is the devils work.
I love the colours, the flavours, the ritual of choosing and buying, and the pleasure of owning a bag all-to-myself :: such acute reminders of childhood.

Yesterday I was in Marks and Spencers buying a jar of pickle (about all I can afford in M&S) and when queuing at the checkout I was suddenly overcome with a huge, undeniable need for some of these sweets. There were others that might have tempted me, but these Fruit Sherbets looked so summery and pretty and fruity that before I could ponder the why's and wherefore's, they had jumped off the hook and into my hand.

And oh! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! They are delicious! SO fruity! And so fizzy too! I tried all five flavours and have to tell you that the blackcurrant comes out tops.

I have to confess that buying these sweets did make me feel a weeny bit guilty. It's a bit of an indulgence buying a whole packet of sweets without the intention of sharing a single one with anyone. They are mine all mine.
The Little People gazed longingly at this bowl and asked in polite, hopeful voices if they might try one.
No, I'm very sorry but you may not.
They are far too big for Little Mouths, you may choke.
And besides, they are mine-all-mine.
They are Mummy Sweets.

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July

 

It's a lovely summery day here in my little patch, and right now rather than sitting in my usual little attic room up under the eaves (which is rather hot and stuffy even with both windows open), I've decided to decamp outside. Lucky for me that J doesn't read my blog cos I'm typing away on his precious Macbook and he might get a bit antsy if he only knew. I'm typing very delicately mind you, very respectfully tip-taping on the immaculate white keyboard and resisiting the temptation to eat strawberries at the same time.

Here in North Yorkshire we're not experiencing the scorchingly hot weather like much of the UK, more a warm, hazy, muggy type of midsummer day with a very pale bluey-grey sky, and the slight whiff of possible thundery rain in the air. But oh, it is undeniably summery all the same, and I am really enjoying being outside and feeling warm air on my skin.

This morning, as soon as I came home from the school run, I took some scissors and went around my pots outside, snipping a few stems to pop into one of my little old ink bottles. Ahhhhhhhhh, you know, I just LOVE to do that simple little thing, the ritual of snipping and popping and creating a small posie of flowers to gaze at provides untold pleasure. Would measure exCEPtionally high on my own personal Pleasure-o-meter without doubt.

 

At the moment I don't have a great many blooms to spare as my pots have only just been planted up. The flowers have yet to fill out but I am really loving the sight of them all, and since the weekend when the bulk of the planting and rearranging work was done, I've been coming out to admire them a great deal. My first cup of tea of the day, which is usually ceremoniously brought to me in bed by my early-to-rise other half, is now taken outside. I love to potter around in my pyjamas in the cool of the early morning before the neighbours are up (this morning I was out before 6am, yes, you read that right, before six ay-em). 

There is still some work to be done outside, a wall that I'd like to paint, some troughs to be planted with salad crops....so at some point in the next week or two, when I've done some more inspirational book-browsing and when things are finally coming together,  I'll take some more photographs and do a bit of an outside ta-dah for you all to see.

 

Ahhhh so June has now been and gone and flip-flip-flip the pages of my three calenders were turned this morning to welcome in July. A busy old month this one, with lots of things-to-remember already written in. School trips, sports days, a PTA fundraiser cake sale, Sheep Day (yes, our town celebrates Sheep Day this weekend, I kid you not), the end of term and the beginning of the long summer holidays to look forward to. Busy busy busy. But enjoyably so I hope.

 

The Bossy Calender has a splendid page for July and a marvelous Order to be obeyed too...Entertain in the garden!!! Fresh flowers and a pretty cloth, quick smart! Although admittedly I'm still falling slightly behind as have not yet purchased new pillowcases as per the June instructions. So this month will have to be pillowcases and floral tablecloths, but at least I've already had  a stab at the Fresh Flowers bit.

 

The gorgeous Ideal Homes calendar has another amazing photograph for July :: I know I say it every month but I really love each and every one of the twelve images in this calendar. They are so evocative of the seasons, so beautiful in their simplicity.

In fact, this mornings image inspired me to think about a little bit of simple outdoor lighting for my own back yard....I don't exactly have a tree with available branches to use, but tealights and empty jam jars, yes yes yes, I have those a-plenty.

 

So down to the cellar to the collection of Bonne Maman jam jars I went, then up three flights of stairs to the Attic to the collection of ribbons, then back down two flights of stairs to the collection of candles.

I had a busy-bustly upstairs-downstairs moment there for a while!

I like the simple approach :: snipped ribbon tied around the jar in a knot, and to finish a few sprigs of fragrant lemon-thyme from my own back yard.

Pop a candle in eh voila!!!!

 

I think they look very pretty, and as I have house guests arriving this evening for a week-long stay, I am anticipating sitting outside in the warmth of the evening, a simple supper of bread and cheeses, marinated olives, greek salad and ripe strawberries, and some gentle candlelight as the daylight fades.

Oh, and knowing my guests very well, I fully expect there to be more of this too. They are the same guests after all, and I am really looking forward to their arrival.

Excepting that they will be sleeping in the Attic, which currently looks like a small but very mean spirited tornado has blown through and thrown everything into complete disarray. 

I've got my work cut out for me this afternoon, that's for sure.

But just before I go back up two flights of stairs and begin the task of clearing the decks, let me show you July's view from the Attic, taken today around mid morning...

 

...it looks a bit dull and colourless, but thats just the warm haze of the day still hanging low over the hills.

I have high hopes for July, for fresh cut flowers and outdoor living. Warm summer air and evenings by candlelight.

Enjoy your day xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Book Love

I received a very official looking letter through the post yesterday morning, you know the sort that comes in a scary looking brown envelope with transparent window, my full name typed out in Capital Letters. Turns out it was a reminder from my local library letting me know that I still had a book out on loan which was due back on 4th June and which will no doubt be costing me a small fortune in fines. But hey ho, that's the price to pay for a shot-to-bits memory such as mine. I blame the Little People. EnTIRely. Before they crashed into my world, I was one of the organised ones. I remembered things. I was on time for things. Not so any more it seems, I can't remember what it's like to actually remember things anymore.

Rather luckily (and unusually), this morning I did actually manage to find the book in question without involving too much bad language and searching. And as I'll be hopping along to my local library later on today to return the naughtily late book and pay the naughtily hefty fine, I suddenly thought I'd like to share this book with you all before it goes back.

It's called "Green Crafts for Children" by Emma Hardy.

And ohhhhhhhhhhh its one Beeeeeeautiful book!

 

As is my usual habit, I flicked through this book very quickly when in the library to see if it was suitably eye-candyish enough and therefore worth borrowing. And on deciding straight away that yes this book most definitely contained very high-grade eye candy, home it came with me.

 

I have to say I really, really appreciate beautiful styling and photography, most especially since I began taking photographs for my blog. I have learnt how deceptively hard it can be to take a supposedly simple still-life photograph, and how background props/ephemera/scenery can add such bucket loads of beauty and ooomph to fairly ordinary up front subject matter.

Take these fabulous tissue paper flowers for example...a simple, quite old fashioned craft, made to look extremely beautiful in my opinion. But just look at the above photograph :: it's not just about the flowers themselves see.....no no no, it's every other little detail that goes with it. The vintage jugs, the floral table cloth, the cutlery with the green and white polka dot handles, the distressed turquoise dresser in the background.....ahhhhhhhh I love, love, love it all. So beautifully, appealingly styled. And such gorgeously pretty colours.

 

And it's the same throughout the book. Page after page of pure gorgeousness.

 

The projects themselves are very appealing too, and are divided into five chapters ::

Salt Dough, Papier Mache and paper, Recyclng, Natural and Fabric.

 

The step by step instructions are clear and accompanied by photographs of children actually making the things. And very cute, adorable children they are too.

 

I just love those peg dolls.....but I equally love the bed they are so beautifully propped on, don't you?

 

Well....I do need to stop drooling now....those pages have got me all excitable. 

And in case you were wondering, no, I haven't tried a single one of the thirty five projects with the Little People yet, although I do fully intend to. I think they would love to make salt dough things, in fact there are many of the projects that I would like to try with them.

They probably won't end up looking half as pretty, but I'm sure we would have some fun trying.

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Loving the Flowers

Ahhhhh, its that time of year again when I work myself up into a happy frenzy with compost and pots and floral goodness. Can you remember last year? All good fun, I do enjoy a bit of potty pottering...not exactly full blown gardening, but enough to content my (veeeeery pale) green fingered ideas.

I allowed myself the pleasure of a little mad splurge at a small family run nursery at the beginning of the week. The nursery is owned by the same lovely peeps who run the plant stall at the weekly market, and who also supplied the primulas for the school Mothering Sunday craft project I organised (remember my car boot full of PPP's in March??)

 

Its a small place, but oh so pretty!! Next time I pay a visit I'll remember to take my camera to show you, because as plant-vendors go, this one is pretty near perfect. Its beautifully laid out, and at this time of year there is a huge polytunnel full to bursting with the type of annuals and bedding plants which make my heart soar.

 

The whole experience is remarkably similar to being let loose in a shop full of buttons or beads, or a good yarn/haberdashery shop, or a fabric shop. You know, that delicious, overwhelming kind of almost painful excitement that arrives BaNg when one is suddenly surrounded by so much intense colour and creative possibilty.

 

Yes, its the surge of creative possibility which I find so intoxicating.

When shopping in this way, whether it be for a crochet project, a quilt-to-be, or a back yard full of flowers, the choosing and purchasing of the goods is really the choosing and purchasing of an inspirational dream to me. Does that make sense?

And its so damn exciting, I feel fit to burst!

So round and round I go, wheeling my impossible wibbly plant trolley around and around the displays of flowers. It's quite a heady experience.

 

I choose geraniums first and foremost, because summer is not summer without geraniums.

There are also some luscious ostospurmum (Cape Daisy) in the most beautiful colours (isn't that flower above so beautiful?)

 

Marigolds, yellow marguerites, petunias and verbena also jump into my trolley.

 

It's so hard to refuse some of the beauties on display :: I was totally smitten by that fabulous pelargonium above...so utterly charming, I was powerless to resist.

Despite my usual indecisive nature, this spot of retail therapy was really quite fast and furious for me. The flowers just kind of kept leaping into my trolley, one after the other, until I had built up a patchwork of brilliant floral colour.

It was such a joy to pile them into the boot of my car, much as I did with the PPP's, and to see all that colour waiting to come home with me. Ooooooeeeee, it was fab!!

So the flowers have been sitting patiently on my outside table since Monday afternoon, waiting to make the move from plastic trays to big terracotta pots.

And finally today, with some rather dubious help from the Little People (off school today as well as yesterday) I managed to spend a good amount of this morning with my sleeves rolled up, shifting garden furniture around, sweeping and clearing and ridding my pots of last years dead inhabitants and this years crop of thriving weeds.

So we are ready to go now, ready to plant, ready to transform my rather drab little outside space into something colourful and inspiring for the summer season.

It's going to be a heckava lot of fun arranging these beauties in their new potty homes.

A true living colour fest.

Oh, and this weekend I'm going to be making some outdoor summer bunting to string up too....can't wait to show you when it's all done, we could have a little garden party to celebrate??!! Yippeeee!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone whatever you get up to :: I really hope your days (and mine too) are full of sunshine and colour.....Enjoy!

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Ordinariness

Some snippets of Ordinariness from my Thursday.....

:: a lego garden blooms ::

 

:: Polly Pocket takes White Power Ranger for a ride ::

 

:: building a 3D puzzle with Little Man and appreciating that he tolerated the arrival of Cinderella without fuss. Little Lady can be very instrusive! ::

 

:: Loving the delicious summer fruits at this time of year, I enjoyed a juicy nectarine for breakfast ::

 

:: No time for crochet today, but it didn't stop me gazing longingly at my yarn bag ::

:: packing a quick bag for a spontaneous trip to the park :: a frisbee, rackets and balls, water, apples and a magazine ::

 

:: on the way out the back door, loving this tenacious little daisy growing out of the step ::

:: morning sunshine at the park, the grass still wet with dew ::

:: watching the Little People do their familiar Playground Thing ::

 

:: loving the June grass decorated with buttercups, daisies and clover ::

 

:: back home up the hill to eat chilled watermelon from the fridge ::

 

:: sneaking a little Attic-time to block out the first quarter of BB on the attic floor ::

 

:: hanging out the laundry to dry and love love loving all my newly purchased flowers sat patiently waiting to be planted into the big pots (more of that tomorrow) ::

 

:: 8pm late June sky ::

:: loving the summer view from the Attic more than ever ::

The Little People were at home with me to day as the school was closed for teacher training. We had nothing planned, just a day of being home together. But oh, how I did appreicate it!

I've not used my camera that much in recent weeks, but felt like keeping it close by me today to capture a little of lifes Ordinariness. Often, its so easy to let these Little Snippets of daily life slip by unnoticed, to become preoccupied with problems, issues and Big Snippets. Yet to really observe and appreciate the little details can bring such a lot of happiness and gratitude. I remain very grateful for such easy Ordinariness in my day to day home life, no matter what big, rollercoastery stuff is happening in the background.

It was so good to be reminded of that today.

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Roundy-roundy-Hooky-hooky

Last week I was forced to remove myself temporarily from Big Blankie's embrace as I'd run out of two crucial colours which stopped us in our tracks for a while. Luckily, I've developed a very good relationship with my LYS (Local Yarn Shop) and they immediately placed an order with the Rowan rep for more yarn in the colours I needed. They recognised my desperation, nodded knowingly and told me they would telephone me the very minute it arrived (which they duly did yesterday, prompting me to drop everything and drive rather speedily down the A56 to screech up outside the shop, rush in and get my hands on the much needed balls).

So anyhow, while waiting for the Lavender and Pier pure wool to arrive last week, I embarked on a small project using up some of my Rowan Cotton DK to tide me over until I could get back together with BB.

I am wondering if you can guess from these pictures what on earth I have been up to?

Is it another roundy-roundy cushion?

A circular mat?

Oh Ok, it has sides....is it the beginnings of another bag perhaps?

Or a container of some sorts?

Ahhhhhhhhh, it's a HAT!!!!

Yes, a beret stylie hat!!! (that was the Little People's guess)

But no, it's not a hat.

ok..let me give you a bit more of a clue....

.....let me show you a bit of tatty old furniture......

......an old painted bit of furniture I bought some time ago from an antiques centre....

....an old stool look......

I just adore old stools, the older and tattier they are, the more I want to rescue them and cherish them. They call to me, beg to be given another chance to be given a useful, appreciated life. I love that they are multi-purpose and can be used either for sitting on, or as little side tables to take care of a pile of books or a mug of coffee or even a plant pot. That they tuck in neatly to small spaces and demand very little.

So this stool has been painted in that rather gorgeous pale duck egg blue that makes me go weak at the knees (exact same colour as the Lloyd Loom chair) and I just had to bring it home with me. As you can see from the above picture, the seat is really quite knackered and worn, yet it didn't feel right to repaint it :: I rather like the distressed look of the paint-chipped little legs, but the seat top just looked down right dirty and didn't clean up very well.

So.....

Here it is.....

My latest hooky project to share with you......

It's a Crocheted Stool Cover look....

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the lovliest things that I am frequently told here in Blogland is that I am "Inspirational". That my crochet projects and use of colour have inspired many of you to create your own little colourful works of hooky goodness. I am hugely flattered by this notion, and just LOVE the idea of so many beautiful ripples of Hooky Creativity spreading out across the world, it really, really, really gives me thrills to think of that!

And I know how fantastic it feels to find Inspiration, to gaze upon something created by someone you've never met and feel an instant zing of appreciation and awe, and feel that hot spark of creativity ignite. Its one of the best feelings in the world I reckon.

 

So today, I'm happy to share with you not only this latest creation of mine, but the source of the Inspiration behind it too.

Let me introduce you to a lady who I have never met, who's work and the glimpses into her life gives me major heart-flutters and sends hot sparks flying. 

Her name is Ingrid, she is a talented Dutch designer/maker and her little company is called "WoodWoolStool". I invite you to take a most delicious stroll through her Photostream on Flickr where she shares the most wondrous glimpses into her daily life, her beautiful home and her fantastic crochet creations.

I just love everything about this lady, she Inspires me so very much.

Alas she doesn't write a blog (and I wish many times over that she did), but she has been written about on some lovely blogs, which you might like to visit with here and here and here.

So this is my own little take on the Wood-wool-stool idea, excepting that mine is wood-cotton-stool.

And I am really rather chuffed with how this roundy-roundy-hooky-hooky thing of mine turned out.

It looks right at home amongst the growing collection of hooky blankets and cushions around and about the place.

Right, I am off to go do some stitchy-stitchy stuff now.

Have a great day, don't forget to make time to stop and sniff some roses at some point, I can highly recommend it.

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Rosy Outlook

Hello my lovelies....how you doin'?
Well it's been a whole week since I last came to sit in my scruffy little cosy Attic space to chat a while with you all, and honestly, I've missed it.
You may (or may not) have perhaps noticed that my blogging voice has been struggling a little of late, that there has not been the usual, regular blurb of words streaming from the Attic Monday-to-Friday. In fact, it has been down right Erratic in the Attic recently hasn't it? Yes, Attic24 has become Erratic24. Deary me, it has certainly not been intentional.
All I can tell you is that my personal life has been extremely topsy-turvy during this past month or so. I have tried hard to retain my Rosy Outlook, to blog when I've been able, but it has not been easy. Please don't feel sorry for me, I am OK now I promise, and I do believe the worst is hopefully behind me now.
And oh I have missed you all! I've hardly been visiting with anyone at all in Blogland, just bobbing in here and there when I've been in the mood. But like I say, I feel in my heart that I am back on the up again and yaaaayyyyyy I am So Glad!!

My fresh flowers for this week are these utterly delectable bright pink Roses. I am quite smitten with them, especially as they have a beautiful, subtle rosy scent which is unusual for shop bought roses I find. I am suffering with hayfever at the moment too, but it doesn't stop me sticking my entire face right into this bunch and sniffing and snorting that irresistible scent. And then sneezing aaaaChoOoOoOoOOooo.

I have a couple stems in the bathroom as well (which is STILL NOT FINISHED) and that pink colour looks absolutely delicious in there. Really yummy.

Well I've got oooodles of sewing to do this week, but have some lovely things to share with you too....so all being well, I shall make time to pop in and chat tomorrow. In fact, yes, I just remembered, I have something new and hooky to share with you tomorrow....so see you then....

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Cloud Nine

Hellooooo!!! Monday afternoon already, yikes where do the hours and days disappear to?
Did you enjoy a lovely weekend? Ah, we did, it was a really happy weekend here at Attic24. Lots of pottery weekendy stuff like baking buns, sitting in the sun drinking coffee, losing myself blissfully  in magazine Wonderland (the latest CL mag, such bliss!), and of course indulging my affair with BigBlankie, affectionately known as BB. 
We also had out of the ordinary weekendy stuff in the form of the towns Annual Gala, which involved a street procession and a large, noisy  fairground in the park (Dodgems, carrousels, hook-a-duck, candyfloss, goldfish-in-bags). Yes, we now have two new small Golden coloured, rather nervous fishy residents at Attic24. Say no more.
The Gala day was rounded off at 10pm with a big firework display, and amazingly the Little People managed to stay up until this time buzzing with energy and excitement (no doubt fuelled by all the sugar from the candyfloss). It was a lovely, if full-on day.

So I've been up here in the Attic today, enjoying the peace and quiet. Having a little tidy up, re-aquainting myself with my little sewing corner, looking through my coloured sewing threads and stroking my brightly coloured cotton fabrics. You know, gently contemplating the business of cutting and piecing, stitching and creating.

Following on from my last post on Friday night where I tentatively offered up my textiles for inspection and consumption, my life has suddenly taken quite a turn. To be quite frank, I didn't really think things through very well there, it was all quite spontaneous and very slapdash wasn't it?
Find a few little pieces of work lying around.
Photograph them.
Stick them on the blog and offer them for sale.
Wait a week or two, then if they don't sell, try them on Etsy.
Nothing to lose.

But what actually happened was so unexpected, that I have had that feeling all weekend of floating on a cloud. Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for the tremendous response to my work. It has been the very best antidote to the rather odd low feelings I've been suffering from of late. And I thank you enormously :: its rather nice up here on Cloud Nine!

So yeah, what actually happened was that all seven pictures sold over night within 10 hours of being in cyberspace. And there have been many, many more of you all wishing to give a happy home to some Attic24 Stitchy Goodness.

I'm in the process of working my way through your emails, so if you did wish to purchase a little Stitchy Picture and have emailed me, you will be hearing from me very soon. I think I'm going to be a busy bee making lots of new stitchy pictures, and I am more than happy with that.

This is my trusty, beloved Bernina, I thought you might like to see her. She's a solid old metal thing and I love her dearly. I bought her in 1992 after I graduated from college, with money very generously given to me by my Grandparents (I was so poverty-stricken in those days, I could hardly afford to buy food, let alone a bit of Swedish machinery). I am eternally grateful for their generosity. It was my Mum who actually found this Bernina for me through a small  local dealer In  Dorset, I am her third owner. I also have the original case and instruction booklet for her too, she is roughly 50 years old. She has no fancy stitch patterns, just does straight stitch and zigzag. But ooohhhh she loves free-motion embroidery very very much!

I found some of my little designs yesterday look, drawn out on scraps of paper as and when ideas and images have sprung to mind. It's how all my  pictures start out, as simple line drawings in black pen. I use these drawings like "patterns" to help me cut and assemble the collage of fabrics which make up my little pictures.
When I am drawing them, I never know quite how they are going to turn out, how the colours will work. That bit comes when I begin snipping and piecing the fabric itself, when I start playing with colour, hopping from foot to foot having heebie jeebies over it all.

So I shall love you and leave you for today, I've got quite a lot to be getting on with up here on The Cloud.
Oh, I've just had a thought...if you'd like to see a little more of my textile work, there are a couple of archive Attic posts here and here.
See you tomorrow my lovelies

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PS I'll be sharing my trip to Bruges with you soon I promise, I've not forgotten xx

Stitchy Goodness

 

As you know, I've been harbouring this little dream of opening an Etsy Shop and beginning to sell some of my stitchy creations again. Can you remember when I stitched the Attic24 banner and opened up shop?? It was waaaay back last year before Christmas.
Since then I've just not quite found a way to get new things made, although I have so many designs and ideas and scraps of paper with little drawings made on them. The will is there for sure.
Then earlier in the week I came across this little collection of textile pieces that I made some years ago :: such a surprise to find them again, to remember them, and discover how much I still feel about them, if you get that.

And I figured that maybe it might be a lovely idea to offer them for sale, kind of as a way for me to make my tentative steps towards setting up shop. A Little Shop of colourful Stitchy Goodness.

I have to tell you I am nervous! uh--huh. I mean, truthfully, I love these little pictures very much, they are so very me, and made with love and delight in every tiny stitch. Yet I would also love for them to find new homes! For each picture to be loved and cherished. Soppy so-and-so that I am.

You want to take a look?

 

I made this series of textile pictures originally with an idea to reproduce them as greetings card images. 

There are seven altogether that I am offering for sale and I am selling them unmounted and unframed, just as they are. They can easily be popped into a frame to hang on the wall though, I think the Ikea RIBBA frames are excellent and there is a square one with a mount that would be just right.

They are appliqued with pure cotton fabrics (some hand painted), and embroidered by hand and machine. 

They are quite dinky and measure 12.5cm (5 inches) square.

Do you like them?

I remember really, really having fun creating the designs and making them come to life with colour and stitch. I love working on this small scale, snipping the teeny tiny bits of fabric and stitching the teeny tiny stitches.

This above piece I made for a magazine article I wrote on applique, it measures 11 x 14cm. 

 

You know you can click on the images to pop them up in a larger window....great to see the stitch detail....

....I especially love the the two seasidey ones, there's something so universally appealing about little harbours with cottages and boats.

So :: the details.

I'm selling each piece of work as seen (unmounted and unframed).

And I'm asking £38 for each, with free postage and packaging world wide. I don't know about you, but it niggles me having to pay P&P when buying things online, so I am more than happy to pay it for you by way of a Thankyou :o).

For US peeps, with the current exchange rate, this equals approx $62.

If you are interested in giving a home to a little bit of Attic24 Stitchy Goodness, please do email me and we can have a chatty about paypal stuff.

My email address is ::

lucyshouse@hotmail.co.uk

I hope you don't mind me launching this at you, only I figured I'd love to offer them exclusively on the blog first before I put them into the Etsy Ocean.

I think I'll keep them here at Attic24 for a week or two, then into the shoplet they will go.

XXXXXXXXXX ALL PICTURES NOW SOLD ** THANK YOU** XXXXXXXXXX

Thanks so much for stopping by...have a fantabulous weekend one and all. 

Me and BB are going to spend a considerable amount of time snuggling and smooching on the sofa this weekend. I am quite beside myself.

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edited to add :: please don't in any way feel bad if you are not in a position to give a home to one of these pictures right now, I SO understand. But I'm hoping that I'll be able to go on to make some more bits and pieces, including some smaller ones at a lower price. Thanks again for all the support and enthusiasm you show for my creations, it means so much.xx