Buen viaje to me!

Very shortly I will be going on a train adventure visiting Brussels, Cologne, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich and Paris. My plan is to yarnbomb each city as I go, and it is just possible that whoever is reading this has found one of my yarnbombs! If that is you - Welcome!!! please leave a comment to introduce yourself. It would be great to find out who has seen my yarnbombs, and why we happened to be passing through the same place.

A crafty birthday part 2: Sylvanian fascinator

Being able to recall and log happy memories is turning out to be one of my favourite things about blogging. I am about to go on a little train adventure (more on that later!) and am taking a moment to think of the friends I will miss while I am gone.Without their encouragement and support I'd never have had the nerve to go, and Ariane deserves a special mention for the generosity, hospitality and inspiration she has offered.


Here are some photos of the wonderfully ridiculous fascinator she made for me to wear at our joint birthday tea party.


xx

A crafty birthday part 1: The doodle cup

I was really lucky to have some beautiful hand crafted gifts for my birthday this year.


This teacup was painted by my friend Meg, using ceramic paint pens. Meg says she hasn't done anything creative in years. I really love the choice of colours and the stream of consciousness that is Meg's doodle style! Is that a heart? Next to a Catherine wheel, next to a chess board?


Thanks Meg! 


xx 

And this makes it all worthwhile

At the risk of sounding like an old git, when I was a child, people appreciated handmade goods - you were made to! Growing up involved being regularly forced into scratchy jumpers, embarrassing hats and garish cardigans so that the maker could see them in use. It's an etiquette which sadly no longer seems to exist. I may be glad that the ritual child humiliation has died out, but unfortunately it has taken a lovely ethos with it. Handmade clothes, usually made by a family member who belonged to a prior generation, don't tend to be at the cutting edge of fashion, but we were taught that there is love, time and thought in every single stitch. That's something you can't buy, even at Cath Kidston ;-)


All that we were expected to provide in return for all this love and doting, was the pleasure for the maker of seeing a beloved child wearing something they had taken the time to make. It's a disappointment waiting at the end of many a craft project that this tradition hasn't survived.


All this said, you can imagine what a delight it was to receive these photos along with a commission to make another hat in size 3-6 months. A huge thank you to our tiny model and her Mum. Prepare for cuteness overload!

Mixed feelings over a baby cloche

It's always nice to hold with tradition and give something handmade when a friend has a baby, but I must admit that each time I work on a piece for a little one, I have begun to wonder when I will get the chance to make stuff for a child of my own. In the meantime, at least I'm getting lots of practise! 


It is an unexpected side effect that playing the domestic goddess plays such havoc with my hormones, but I feel it illustrates how much emotion I invest into everything I make, and by the time I've finished the project I am always refocussed and looking forward to meeting the new arrival.  I wonder whether other crafters occasionally encounter such bitter-sweetness in producing their labours of love?


This little cloche took a bit of trial and error but I learnt lots doing it and I'm pleased with the scalloped edging. I hope it is a fitting way to say "welcome to the world " to a tiny young lady.

I don't have a special person in my life . . . .

. . . . I have a number of them! But don't groan - I'm not going to turn HAMH into one of those gloaty smug blogs on what is potentially one of the loneliest nights of the year! On the other hand, it doesn't hurt to appreciate what you have, so I planned an alternative valentine's message and some little gifts for friends to make a positive of the day!  

Footprints in the Sand

The more I think about my crafty heritage, the more I realise how much I owe to my maternal Grandma, Doris. I thought perhaps you might like to meet her! This is a photo of us together during a walk on the beach just after Christmas this year, and another of my Grandma and Mum arm in arm. 

Doris's 90th Christmas was the first time she finally allowed us to convince her to take a rest and not to insist on cooking for the entire family, and we had great fun spoiling her for once! The photos captured such a lovely day I decided to incorporate them into framed gifts for Mum and Grandma, inspired by the poem Footprints in the Sand"  which is one of Doris's favourites.