So tired . . .

What is it with sleepovers that no one actually sleeps?! My daughter had a sleepover last night - her and three other girls. Cinema, pizza etc. We were evicted to our bedroom to watch Get Him to the Greek on a laptop - Mark didn't stay the course and nodded off half way through. Which was surprising really given the noise from downstairs. At what point do teenage girls stop shrieking at each other??!! Needless to say I didn't get much sleep either.

I think the noisiest time was around 4am when they were playing Just Dance on the Wii, after that I think I drifted off, waking again around 8am. Emily didn't sleep at all but has totally crashed since her friends have gone home. She is going to be fun later!!

I hope you all have a relaxing day - think of me lol!

M x

Tutorial

I was commissioned to make a birth congratulations card for a friend, and she wanted a concertina card with the child's name on it. I thought I would have a go and make a tutorial for the method. I've never done this before, so please bear with me and I hope it makes sense!

I used two pre-scored cards as my base card. They measure 96mm square. Alternatively, you could use one piece of A4 cardstock and cut a 96mm strip and then score it along it's longest side three times at 96mm intervals - whichever is easiest for you.

I used double sided tape to stick the two cards together as I find it is the strongest adhesive - just be careful how you line it up. It's not forgiving if you make a mistake.

OK, so that was the hardest part. Now for the fun bit. Choose your colour scheme. Obviously I chose a sweet pink - the papers are Sugar and Spice from Craftwork Cards, and I cut three squares measuring 9cm x 9cm.

I used a glue pen to stick the paper to the card, and I like to leave a thin white border, hence the squares measuring 9cm.

Now it's time to decorate!

I used the plasma letter templates from Craftwork Cards (so handy, use them all the time), and drew round them on pink card. Remember to reverse them so that when you have cut them out you get a nice clean image with no pencil marks.

I like the look of faux stitching, so with a white Sakura gel pen I drew a dashed line round each letter.

To mirror the thin white border around the pink paper, I stuck the letters on white card using a glue pen, and cut round each one leaving approximately a 2mm border.

Now your imagination can run riot. I edged the pink paper panels with a baby pink glitter glue. I would advise leaving it to dry for about 30 minutes, I didn't and kept smudging it.

To decorate the "a", I tied thin satin ribbon around it in two places and snipped the ends to a point. I used tiny Prima flowers for the "M" and put pink glitter glue in the centres. And for the "y", I glued on tiny crystals. But really you can do anything you like, it depends on what you have in your stash.

Once the glitter glue is dry and the letters are decorated, stick them to the card using thin double sided tape.

The front of the finished card.

The back of the finished card.

Because it was a special commission, I lwanted to include as many details as possible. I cut three more panels of the pink paper and stuck them on, then edged them in glitter glue. On white card, 7cm x 7cm square, I printed one panel of the baby's details, on the second I printed a photo of the baby and on the third, just the word "Congratulations" for my friend to write her own message.

I was very pleased with the finished card, and my friend was too. We are hoping that eventually the parents of the baby will frame it so that it can be a keepsake for her when she is older.

I hope my tutorial makes sense and that I haven't wittered on too much! I would love some feedback and also to see some of your cards. If I have written something that doesn't make sense, leave me a comment and I'll try to explain it better.

Happy card making!

M x

New WIP

Gosh, it's been a while (again!). Apologies for my absence, I've had the lurgy for the past couple of weeks and have felt pretty rubbish! Also life in the Frecklepuss household has been quite stressy, so unfortunately blogging has slipped quite far down my list of priorities. But I'm back now - at least while it's half term, and I have a couple of things to share with you.

Today I'm showing you my new work in progress. Emily asked me to make her a granny stripe blanket for her bed and she has been quite definite about how she wants it to look.

She has chosen 10 colours and wanted broader stripes, so each block comprises 10 rows.

The wool is the usual Stylecraft Special bought from here and the colours are (top row left to right) Turquoise, Sunshine, Fondant, Aspen, Citron, (bottom row left to right) Emperor, Pomegranate, Aster, Spring Green and Violet.

I've really enjoyed making it as it grows so quickly - I've managed to crochet 100 rows in a week (it's quite addictive). I feel bad for abandoning my Dream Blanket, especially as I only have the border to do, so I'm going to stop with Emily's blanket for the moment and concentrate on getting the other one finished.

Edward has already planned my next project. He wants a stripe blanket like Emily's but in shades of green and blue, and fours rows per stripe! I think I've started something now!!

Have a good day.

M x

Room

I know I have mentioned this book before but now I have read it (unputdownable!!) - I just wanted to urge people to give it a go.

It's about a boy and his mother who live together in a room that is 11 feet square. The boy is five years old and has only known the room his whole life. It is written from the boy's point of view and in the language of a five year old. Don't let that put you off, as the story unfolds you will just want to keep reading - I read it in two days. I can't tell you anymore as it would spoil the story for you. I'd love to know if anyone else has read it and what you think.

Hope everyone is well. We've been a bit poorly in the Frecklepuss household. I've had the grottiest cold which has lingered on and on, and which I have kindly passed on to both children!! I was brought up to share - what can I say!

Take care

M x

Oh by the way - I've finished crocheting all the rows of the dream blanket. Have sewn in 192 ends and am waiting for the border colours to arrive - I wish they would hurry up!!

Midweek catch up

Hope everyone is having a good week. I've been at home the last two days as Emily is not well, but hopefully on the mend. I am now starting with a cold but shall try to ignore it as I don't have time to be ill!

My week of planned meals is going very well, and certainly makes life a little bit less stressful. The Alsace chicken was delicious on Sunday (roast chicken with lemon juice and tarragon, with a cream, garlic and white wine sauce), and we had plenty left over for Monday with cold chicken, chips and a fried egg - simple, but so yummy. Yesterday was hoisin pork and pancakes, and tonight will be chicken in tomato and basil sauce with pasta. Is your mouth watering yet?!

Dream Blanket update - only got two more colours to crochet and then it's just the border. Have ordered the colours for that today, as well as ten colours than Emily has chosen for her own Dream Blanket, which thankfully will be half the size of mine (it's soooooo heavy now!!).

Have finally finished reading the whole Harry Potter series, which I started just before Christmas. I have to admit to shedding a tear or two, as once again, it's all over (until I read the series again!)


I started my new book last night, Room by Emma Donoghue. Not too sure what to make of it at the moment, but it's early days. I'm trying to second guess what is going to happen but I'm not going to say because I know a couple of other bloggers are about to read it too.

This Sunday it's the Stamperama show at Stevenage which is not too far from where I live. I usually go, but not this year as I am saving my pennies for the Alexandra Palace show in April. I feel sad that I am not going and hope that I won't weaken on Sunday morning - but I must be strong, I must be strong (if I repeat it enough, will I start to believe it??!!).

Cheerio. M x