goodbye august

It's September tomorrow.  Autumn is nearly here and I am just a little delighted.  We have had a wonderful summer of fun despite the questionable weather.  Now there is much excitement in our house as school starts again on Monday.

Our first boy is starting year 3 in primary school and Monday will be my second little boy's first day at school.  I am amazed at how the years fly by and how quickly the little ones grow up.

There is a lovely newness in the air.  New uniforms, shoes, schoolbags and books.  It brings back lovely memories of when I was little and looking forward to returning to school.  I loved nothing more than a new pencil case filled to the brim with pencils and pens.

I must admit I have never got over my love of a new notebook.  I have many stored in drawers, occasionally taken out and admired.  My problem is I think my handwriting somehow defaces the lovely new book.  I think I may need help.  I really must start using them.

The little fairy and I will have the opportunity for some one on one time when the boys are at school.  Time for baking, crafting and reading, just a few of our favourite things.

Hope you all have a lovely autumn and enjoy all the good things the change of season brings.

Oh hello too, to my newest followers.  It's lovely to hear from you.  Thanks so much for visiting.

baking days

Baking update.  Brownies from The Primrose Bakery Book.  So delicious.

Sweet, sticky, delicious, need i say more.

A lovely brownie on a pretty little plate for me.  Hope you are all having a lovely start to the week.

primrose bakery book

Our postman arrived this morning with a parcel containing this little gem, The Primrose Bakery Book.

I can feel the urge to bake coming on.  Just look at that carrot cake.  Doesn't it look delicious.

Green tea cupcakes.  So pretty.

And those biscuits.  Could biscuits be any lovelier?

Sadly I think most of these masterpieces are a little beyond my current baking skillset.  However a girl can dream.

A little wildflower arrangement created by my eldest boy.  Can you see the little stones in the bottom? He informed me he knew I would think they were pretty.  I have a bit of a thing for stones, a little weird, I know.  Anyway, wishing you all a lovely bank holiday weekend. 

mollie makes: august

Well here goes.  My first Mollie Makes project reveal.  Teeny tiny bunting on a top for my little fairy.

After flicking through the August issue of Mollie Makes I decided to try the mini bunting.  As you can see I used the tutorial as inspiration, choosing triangular bunting and a little top instead of the skirt.  

I won't even attempt to regurgitate the tutorial but here is a little of the process.  I chose the fabric and decided on template size for the little triangles.

I cut them, stacked up with my rotary cutter and sewed them up.  I added bias binding, a narrow satin type I had in my stash.

I decided to hand sew this part as the bunting is so small it was a bit of a faff with the sewing machine.  I also liked that you could have invisible stitches along the tape.  Then I stitched it onto the top, a basic little long sleeved cotton t-shirt.

And now the before and after.

I enjoyed completing this project although i'm not really sure if i would do it again.  The bunting was a little fiddly.  I will sticking to larger scale versions for draping gaily around the house.

I have ear-marked a few other projects I would like to give a whirl.  When my crochet skills improve I wouldn't mind trying the star garland.  It would make a cute festive decoration.

And I will definitely be giving stamp carving a go.  It's been on my to-do list for quite a while.

Did any of you make anything lovely from issue seventeen? 

chilling out

Just spent a lovely relaxed weekend, chilling out, going to the park,

making lion and 

tiger pictures,

picking home grown beetroot to make some rather yummy beetroot and goats cheese risotto and

working on my Molllie Makes pledge.  Here's a little peek at what I chose to make. I'm hoping to show you all later in the week.

My chill out plan was hatched because I was getting a little stressed about the mess around here.  So rather than spend the next two weeks before school starts doing my nut, I have decided for the sake of sanity to let standards slip just a little until routine returns.  I think it will mean a happy vibe around here.

Also receiving the Liebster award was really great but the most exciting thing about it has been finding so many more amazing blogs.  Lots of lovely new reading for my blog roll.

a lovely award

After receiving a lovely message, I was delighted to be awarded the Liebster Award from Ada of Vintage Sheet Addict.

Firstly a big thank you to Ada, I love your blog and am so pleased that you enjoy my ramblings.

I am really pleased to receive this award.  It is given to blogs which have less than 200 followers as a way to raise their profile and increase their readership and is a little confidence boost for the receiver.  It is lovely to know that your blog inspires and entertains others.

So to pass on the love I must choose five blogs which I enjoy and admire.

This is something I really struggle with as there are so many wonderful, funny and enjoyable blogs to choose from.  But here goes.  My chosen blogs are an inspiration and if you have a minute you should pop by and visit.

Tales of a Happy House

Morten and Me

Rainbow Vintage Home

Squiggling About

Scraps of Us

It was really difficult to choose just five, so to help me, I have tried to include blogs who like me are receiving this award for the first time.

Anyone receiving the award has the opportunity to pass it on to five blogs they love.  If you want to take part, please do and if you would rather not I understand.

Also, welcome all my lovely new followers.  Thanks to all of you who take the time to read and comment on the linen cloud.  It is very much appreciated.

happy little house

A while ago when visiting teawagontales I happened upon Jane's lovely little house shaped shelf which she had madeover with some lovely vintage wallpaper.

Having also admired some similar shelf units I thought I could have a go at my own makeover so I gathered the necessary supplies, flexed my crafting mojo and ta dah,

a happy little house finished today.

I got my vintage wallpaper pieces from Jane's etsy shop, littleteawagon and while I was there I popped one of these lovelies in my basket.

source: littleteawagon

It's destined for my much hankered after craft space which I hope I can make a reality soon.  Otherwise my leaning tower of craft supplies is in danger of imminent collapse.

bug hunt

Thought you might like to see our new friend.  The little ones have spent the afternoon bug hunting in the garden and Colin the caterpillar was the prize specimen.

Their cousin is visiting and sleeping over on his own for the first time.  You can imagine the excitement.

Curtains are pulled, jim-jams on and movie night is about to start.  I am off to pop some popcorn.  Maple syrup flavour, anyone?

granny

I wanted to take a little moment to remember my lovely granny who passed away three years ago today.

My granny Margaret, was a wonderful woman, much loved by her large family.  She had the most amazing stories to tell about her life and has left a lovely legacy behind through her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Granny was very special and she has without doubt inspired me today in my love of creating and making.

She was an amazing cook and baker and there was very little she couldn't do with a crochet hook.

Granny was ninety-five when she passed away but I feel so lucky to have spent so much wonderful time with her.

The photograph above was taken at our wedding.  Didn't she look beautiful?

summer fun

Hope you are all having a lovely Monday.  I've collaged a few more of our holiday photos.

We spent the day in two beautiful National Trust properties, Mount Stewart and Castle Ward.  The littles took part in the 'Turkey Olympics', a treasure hunt in Castle Ward and received their very own Olympic medals as a reward.  It was really great fun.

 '

We were lucky to have a beautiful sandy beach near by.  We went there in the evenings when the sun was a little less hot.  The water was really warm for paddling, a welcome change from our usual visits to the beach on the west coast of Ireland.  The Atlantic Sea is absolutely freezing.

We visited Exploris, an aquarium with touch tanks and baby seals, explored rockpools, caught crabs and generally had a ball.

All in all, the holiday was great fun and we can't wait for our next adventure.

summer holidays

We had a really lovely time on our holiday to Portaferry in County Down. Thankfully, the weather gods were smiling on us.  There wasn't a drop of rain all week and four days of glorious sunshine.



Portaferry Marina, County Down

Boats in Portaferry Harbour

We had a fun packed week.  It was our first holiday with the three little ones that Mr F and I really relaxed and chilled out. I think it's because they are becoming more independent and really enjoyed their adventure this year. The boys are already planning next years exploits.

Port at Donaghadee, County Down

Back to normality now though.  I have spent today doing laundry, stocking up on groceries and catching up with happenings in your blogs.

Thanks so much for your lovely comments before we went on holiday.  I will show you a few more photos of our holiday tomorrow.

Hope you all had a lovely week .... xx

off on an adventure

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside, oh I do like to be beside the sea!

We're off on our holidays tomorrow and we can't wait.  The little ones have been counting sleeps for the last week.

I have finally surfaced from beneath the pile of ironing I have been ploughing through.  Our bags are packed and ready for off.

Hope you all have a lovely week and I am looking forward to catching up with you all when we get back ... xx

mollie makes pledge

Earlier this year I subscribed to the wonderful Mollie Makes magazine, my mother's day treat and now I have a lovely pile of copies which will be treasured.

As the magazine is full to brimming with lovely inspiration and brilliant tutorials I have decided to make a little pledge, not written in stone mind, that I will have a go at one of the craft tutorials each month.

In order to keep myself motivated I will include a show and tell on here.  I was inspired to make my pledge by the lovely Gillian from tales of a happy house who has made some fabric mice and friendship bracelets. Gillian has a lovely blog which is well worth a visit.

Also, I don't think I can contain my excitement.  Why, you ask?  Well the lovely Jane from teawagontales included the linen cloud in her list of new blog discoveries!  Thank you so, so much Jane!  I really couldn't be more delighted.

And to make a lovely day even lovelier, Mr F and I are going out tonight, just the two of us.  This is a rare and precious treat at the moment so I'm off to prettify myself in anticipation.

PS ... I have just clocked the number of times I have used the word lovely in this post ... but I won't apologise - things are lovely around here!