Transformed at last!

Now why is it, as a Mum who can sew, you never get round to making things for your own? Our family clubbed together nearly 3 summers ago to purchase our rather cute playhouse. We painted the outside, we chose blue, so that it would appeal to both Jamie and Poppy, but that's all we did, just how bad is that!! It subsequently became a mini garden shed, full of spiders and invaded by ivy......

......until this week that is! In an effort to redeem ourselves, all 6'3" of Andy spent a couple of mornings inside painting it white. ( I think he was quite glad to go back to work today after all the painting he's done over the last couple of weeks!) which left Nan and I free to pretty it up

There's bunting both inside and out, aprons, bags full of toy food and pots and pans. A little table and chairs, and for storage, one of my all time faves, an old Lloyd Loom chest, given a lick of paint and a new ticking cover

Nan made the gorgeous red gingham curtains, from ever so slightly bigger red gingham curtains that she found at booty

The bedside cupboard bought from a furniture turnaround shop for a couple of pounds, received a rather swift paint over and is now a very sturdy cooker, perfect for baking cakes for a tea party I do believe!

and finally a little heart over the door is a gentle reminder of the love that went into making a happy home for two happy children

'till next time

Cake, a cup of tea and an update

Its a lovely sunny day, and my hanging basket at my front door is in full bloom. It cheers you up doesn't it! This morning, whilst Poppy was at Preschool, I put the finishing touches to the children's playhouse make over, more of that tomorrow.

This afternoon, we made mini lemon drizzle muffins, which we've just enjoyed with a lovely cup of tea and warm milk for Poppy. I'm sure my children keep the UK Dairies in business.

Now I'm off to finish some customer orders and the stack of buntings destined for the shop. The gorgeous spring weather has also triggered some fabric buying (any excuse), I'm very excited as it's a totally new line and I love it.

Sugar and Spice is ready for photographing and will be listed this weekend.

I love sunny days, I always get so much done!

'till next time

Looked what arrived today

Ok, I shall try and stay very cool and calm........EEEEK no chance!! Look what arrived this morning through my door

Creating Vintage Charm magazine.......

and look who is featured

Yes it's me.... I was approached a little while ago and asked if I would like to be featured, I thought about it for a while, well a millisecond and said yes. I hoped for maybe a few photo's to be included but LOOK a full 3 pages! YAY!!

In this issue you'll find:

~Plan your Spring Garden Party with beautiful picks from several talented artists and designers ~Featured Artist Cindy Adkins ~Interview with Designer Christina Strutt ~Home tour with Happy Harris ~Tutorials and How to’s you DO NOT want to miss by Karla Nathan, Elyse Major, Mandy Strunk ~In every Issue- Featured Art Gallery, Events Calendar, Free Cut out Images for your creations. ~New- Featured Crafter’s Show

The magazine is only available to buy online and is the work of Sonia Croze.

Please purchase a copy, it is absolutely lovely!

'till next time

A little project

We've lived in our home for nearly 7 years, having moved here when Jamie was 6 weeks old. We actually set the date for completion, for when he was 2 weeks old, (naively as new parents I might add) but he decided to surprise us all and arrive early, then spending his first 2 weeks in SCBU, but that's another story.

Anyway there are several rooms in our house that have not been decorated for ummmm some time, including our hall, stairs and landing. The need for this has somewhat been bought to the forefront as we had a minor plumbing leak last year.

So Andy has leave booked and decorating now in progress. We've decided upon white, white and a bit more white. It's either a brilliant idea, easy to live with, bright, airy or total madness with two young children, no doubt I'll soon find out.

Now for my part, a new front door blind...

A few weeks ago I bought this gorgeous Charm pack from Quilt Taffy, now I know the last thing I need is more fabric, but hey, I just couldn't resist. My initial plan was to use it in Poppy's bedroom, but sorry Pop's I'll find you something else!

Yesterday I placed out the squares ensuring that I got a nice balance of colour and pattern. I then machine pierced the squares into rows, and then joined the rows, to form the blind front

I added some sashing on the side edges, polka dots always a favourite

Decisions decisions, Hot Pink or Bright Aqua Pom Poms, and drum roll .......

Aqua won the day!

Can I just say that I deliberately spaced the dowels so that the bottom edge sat lower than normal, this way I get to enjoy the fabulous fabrics

I am sure even, on the dullest day this will bring a smile to my face!

Sewn with a little bit of luck added for good measure!

pssst, it's a secret

I'm going to let you into a little secret, well actually I couldn't help myself as I am SO EXCITED! It all started with these very pretty name plates that I made for one of my wonderful customers. Rather than my usual felt appliques I used a very pretty Lecien fabric, which I then machine appliqued and added a pretty hand stitched border. I loved the result, which then got me thinking...... how pretty would this look on Bunting, VERY is the answer!

So, I'm now busy working on two new collections, still with Hand Appliques, as that it was I love doing and what makes Little Kitten Homemade Bunting special

The first will be called Sugar and Spice and is made from the prettiest sweetest Lecien fabrics in delicate pink, green and yellow. The flags themselves will be in either the gingham, spots or stripes and the gorgeous florals will be used for the letters

The second will use my Liberty of London Tana Lawns of which I have an ever growing collection. Set against plain cotton flags, you'll be able to choose from:

Rainbow Brights

Something for the boys

Blissful Blues

Spring Greens

Marvelous Mauves

and finally, Pretty Pinks

I hope that you are as excited as I am. On that note, I'm off to sew, sew, sew

Back soon!