Dreadful Sunday

oh dear........... I've messed up my blog by changing the name of it :-(

what an idiot I am!!!  I didn't realise that all links to it would be broken if I changed the name.  I do hope everyone can find it now.

I've also lost all my lovely blogs that I follow.

off now to go hunting for all the lost blogs.......................

with blessings, Willow x

The Hookers Have Arrived!

Well, they've arrived!  I found the lovely soft crochet hooks I've been looking for...... on Ebay.  And yesterday they arrived with the postman :-)

Here they are photographed with Goldie (last week's new hook) .....................

The New Kids On The Block!

Lovely to work with!

Gorgeous lilacs and purple.  This is going to be a mini blooming flower cushion for a Tibetan singing bowl to sit on.

Below is my Chakra -coloured blooming flower cushion all pinned up and waiting to dry out.

Looks pretty with my new pins doesn't it?  Makes it look all jewelled.

Happy Sunday to everyone.  Many blessings, Willow x

Yorkshire in Bloom

It's been over a week since I blogged and now I don't know where to start with my update!  I'm still not allowed to run around and exercise so I'm spending a lot of time doing crochet work and reading.  Having said that, I think this blog might have a flower theme.

With doing so much crochet work I decided to try to find those lovely soft hooks, but found Goldie instead.
Don't get me wrong .. she is lovely and easy to crochet with.... but wasn't the type I was looking for really.  All the same she is really beautiful.

I have to make a lot of daisies for a project I'm doing.... and Goldie is making it so much easier to crochet the fiddly bits :-)

After being let down by an Ebayer with regards to my 12" cushion pads I had to resort to 16" pad for my friend G's birthday Blooming Flower cushion...............

.......... but this meant that I had another 6 hours of crochet work to make the cover big enough.  I'm really pleased with the finished cushion.

As it is G's birthday this week we thought we would leave the men behind and have a lovely girly day out.  So.... after a visit to the post office to post off some gloves and a cushion I had made, we set off.  Oh didn't I tell you?  I sold a blooming flower cushion and a pair of fingerless gloves this week!  My first ever sales..... whooo hoo!!!  Note to self ~ "stop giving all your creations away ~ except when it is for a birthday present lol".

Anyway..... we went off to Junction 32..... a shopping centre a few miles away for some retail therapy.  I didn't buy any clothes or shoes or indeed a handbag.  I bought some light bulbs some spoons and a wheat bag. (I think I cheated a bit with the flower reference there LOL)
.

At the shopping centre I spotted a magical crocus display.

Gorgeous aren't they?

On closer inspection I saw the most amazing beauty.  The petals unfolded to reveal a magnificent secret inside. 

After shopping we had a lovely lunch of sea bass, green beans, black olives, courgettes and baby new potatoes at Bella Italia.......... yummy!  And as we were going to the cinema we got the two main courses for the price of one!!!  It's a great deal :-))

What movie did we see?  The new Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock film called Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  Brilliant!! Thomas Horn plays the amazing Oskar Schell.... a 9 year old boy whose father is killed on 9/11... when he finds a key a year later he thinks that his father has left him a puzzle to solve.... what does the key fit?  I loved the film so much I have ordered the book by Jonathan Safran Foer and can't wait to start it.

So.... here is what am I reading at the moment.  

As you can see.... there is nothing 'light'..... so the novel will be good.

Notice that the books are all blue.  Significance?  No idea.  Just noted that they were blue lol.

When we got home from the cinema, there, in front of my house, was a beautiful crescent moon to greet us.

Hope you all have a great weekend and the sun shines on you.

With blessings, always, Willow x

Singing

Now that I've finished four Blooming Flower Cushions, and have got one cushion cover made without a pad to go inside coz I haven't received my delivery of more cushion pads, I thought I would make a smaller version to sit a Tibetan Singing Bowl on.  I've got some toy stuffing left over from when I made the amigurumi dolls so I just stuffed it with that.

A friend suggested the chakra colours for a cushion.  So here it is!!

... and here is what it looks like without the singing bowl...

So..... while I'm waiting for the cushion pads do I ..............

a) make more 12" cushions? 
b) make singing bowl cushions?  
.... or c) find another project to do?

Decisions, decisions!!!

Blessings, Willow x

The End ..... or Not?

Some friends and I went to the cinema on Tuesday.  Before the movie started there were a whole load of trailers for other films to be shown later in the month.  I can't even remember what movie this was from.... but I want to share a quote with you.

"It will be alright in the end.  If it isn't alright.... then it isn't the end"

I just thought that was a brilliant uplifting line.

blessings, Willow x

Do they work?

I haven't quite yet finished Blooming Flower Cushion No.3.... I've still got the sewing up to do.  But I am already thinking about the new colours for cushion No.4

As Spring is around the corner I thought I would try to do some spring colours.  So I've chosen white, cream, yellow, orange and green.

I've done the back side of the cushion to see how it works.

Here is a close-up.  Unfortunately the white and cream rounds all look like white :-(

What do you think????? 

Be honest... please.

with blessings, Willow x

Got the bug .....for creating!

As you can see from the title.... I have got the bug!  ..... for creating. 

For creating the lovely Blooming Flower Cushion.

Here is No.3..... almost finished.....

.... there is a lot more blue in it than in cushion No.2.... but it is almost the same colours.... although the centre is yellows and oranges (mainly).

Below is the back side of the cushion (and the wrong side) .... and shows off the mainly blue outer with the bright centre colours.

I now need to buy some more cushion pads as I initially only bought 3.  I got them off Ebay.... but the Ebay shop I bought them from apparently doesn't exist any more.  So I am trying to source some more 12" cushions.  So far I have had no luck.... other than some duck down ones which cost the earth lol.  I am waiting for a reply from a supplier who doesn't actually do 12" ones but I've asked if it is possible to make 12" or 14" if I buy multiples.

Hopefully I can get hold of them..... otherwise it is duck down at a price!!!

Or........

I could make them myself.  Oh well.... that could be another blog ;-)

with blessings, Willow x

The White Stuff!!!

Well it arrived!  The snow!!

It started yesterday at about 2pm..... just a light flurry.  But by 3pm it was coming down as huge, soft flakes.

 Here are the first falls of snow on my little bench.

As you can see, my gargoyle isn't happy about the situation......

...... but as usual, the monk keeps calm about the whole situation.  He realises that he can't do anything about it..... so just 'allows'.

By the time the sun had gone down the bench looked like this!

This morning my garden looked so pretty, despite the fact that I haven't been able to tidy it up since my operation in October!  We had five inches of snow!  ...... and I live in the Vale of York where we don't get lots of snow......... normally!

But how on earth did the snow fall like this???  ..... and leave the birdbath looking like a donut!!!

The rosemary bush was in full flower before the snow came.  I wonder if the flowers will survive being covered with snow......

..... and how will the spider manage with a web covered in jewels?

.... and the jasmine with it's bejewelled leaves?

At least any roosting bird will be cozy and warm in here....................... if only one of them would stay more than a minute they would realise what a lovely home this would make.

I do keep getting pairs of bluetits examining the birdbox..... but so far no one has stayed in it overnight.  But I'll keep you posted on that one :-)

Keep warm everyone.  

Blessings, Willow x

Blooming Gorgeous Ta Dah!!!

OMG!  I am soooo pleased with myself.  At last I finished my Blooming Flower Cushion as designed by the lovely Lucy at http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2011/07/blooming-flower-cushion-ta-dah.html  thank you sooooo much Lucy.... you are truely a magician.

I did one last year but gave it away as a Samhain (Halloween) present in a type of 'secret Santa' organised by the members of the Stonewylde forum.  I almost shed a tear as I handed it over to a friend to take it to the post office for me, as I had just had my gallbladder operation and was unable to drive there myself.

Stonewylde is a creation by Kit Berry, and is a hidden community in Dorset where time has almost stood still.  Kit has written 4 books in the series so far and book 5 will be published some time later this year.  You can visit the online forum at http://stonewylde.net/

I loved doing the last blooming flower cushion ..... and picked the colours for the person I was crocheting it for.  But this time I was making it for me :-)   While I had been recovering from my operation a friend went to the craft shop and bought some blue yarn for an amigurumi doll I was making.... but she brought back the wrong blue ... so off she went again (at her insistance) to get more blue.  But again the blue wasn't the right blue.  Eventually I ended up with a lot of shades of blue...... so the colours in my cushion reflect the fact that I had a lot of blue. Even so, I think it all works well with the pinks and purple hues.

What do you think?

Below is the reverse side of the cushion.....

...... and here, below is detail of the buttons reclaimed from a binned cardigan, and little silver 'Made With Love' heart I got from a lovely shop on Ebay..... 'Sarahlovescraft'.  (the buttons are so that the crocheted cover can be taken off the pad and washed......... perhaps the buttons should have been on the reverse side where they wouldn't show...... I may move them).

 By the way, I haven't pressed this one because I like the way the petals fold in :-)

Let me know what you think of my Ta Dah!

Love and Blessings, Willow x