Sew Hip issue 4 and one angry kitty!!!

After many months of searching for the elusive issue 4, I decided to lean on my fellow bloggers and request their help to find one......BINGO!!!!! The lovely Bex over at Bexs Buttons contacted me saying that I could have her copy as she had read it from cover to cover. Oh Joy!!

And here it is, it came in the post today tied with some lovely pink ric rac and a handmade card, with buttons on....of course. Thanks ever so much Bex, I'm looking forward to reading it.

This was a lovely present from the in-laws from their trip over the bank holiday weekend.....its a Good luck Book Mark with a cute little kitty.

And speaking of little kitties, this little man was not a happy bunny yesterday!! We arrived at the vets at 5:30pm but as there was an emergency with a dog that had been hit by a car we had to wait for an hour. He was a bit stressed miaowing for a very long time until he eventually lay down with heavy eyes.

When we went in to be seen there was no problem with checking eyes, ears, teeth and heart etc but the second the vet asked me to hold him still while she gave him his booster Oliver just went berserk!!! Like I have never seen him before, he started growling and hissing, then began making the most strangest of miaowes. And when I went to pick him up he frantically scratched my arms trying to get away. He was so scared bless him.....and had obviously had enough. I definitely came off worse, covered from head to toe with cat fur and a bleeding arm and leg. So when we came home he got lots of fussing and some special cheesy biscuits. I got some Savlon and a cup of tea.

All done....whats next?

Still reeling from receiving Ag's wonderful swap gits.....the grass has been cut, the weeds pulled out, the drive swept, the washing is blowing in the breeze, Oliver is sleeping on a mound of soil at the bottom of the garden (Oh how he is going to miss that mound when the garden gets a make over), Nell is trying to steal some of my cheese sandwich, a list of to-do's (craft wise) has been made, the house tidy and a lovely cup of tea in hand! Perfect.... love it when all the chores are done, that means the afternoon is mine :) Oh and the Velux window came yesterday for the loft!! YEY!!

Does anyone remember this post? Can anyone help? Last attempt was a bit of a dead end :(

Hope you're having a relaxing Saturday...

I am the luckiest blogger in blog land!!

OK and breathe........lets see if I cant write this post without hyperventilating with excitement!!?? (Probably not). Today when I came home from work (after an extra horrid day) there was this lovely large parcel waiting for me. Running upstairs for my camera.......as I knew it was my swap parcel from Ag. We were teamed up together by Sam from Silkie Sue for her freestyle swap.

Ag is an illustrator and graphic designer, she has the most amazing blog and even more amazing talent....please go over and check out her work!! You really are missing out if you haven't popped by before. And now you'll see why :)

Look at the gorgeous little details she put of the postage envelope, are you excited yet? I was!!

Inside there were two very prettily wrapped parcels and some "Mini Snappers", I've never seen them before but the illustration on the back looks soooooooooo yuummmmmmyyyyy! Cant wait to get my teeth into those.

Isn't this the cutest wrapping you've ever seen.

Straight into the card, and just look at what I found. This card is hand painted by Ag, I'm totally in love with it. The detailing is unbelievable and its BAGS!!!! I know, at this point my face was beaming like a Cheshire cat.....I just couldn't believe I was so lucky! Then I almost cried when I saw the big parcel, just look at this.....this is the sweetest gift I've ever had. Its my 2 kitties Nell and Oli. Ag I have to say, if I was ever to imagine the perfect painting it was this. Thank you so much, you really made my day!

Isn't it gorgeous? I love it, love it, love it!!!

I also received these lovely bracelets in my fav colour teal.

I really am the luckiest blogger in blog land.

Thanks to Sam over at Silkie Sue for organising such an awesome swap and a ginormous THANK YOU to Ag for being the best swap partner EVER!!

Unpacked, watered and rested.

Just got back from up north this afternoon, I had a lovely time, lots of catching up done and a little bit of retail therapy :) The Girls Aloud concert was brilliant...such a good show and I have to say that the 5 male dancers that they had with them were rather tasty ;) We had a look round the shops in the afternoon (I made the small purchase of a work shirt, dress and top) and then we went for a slap up steak at Frankie and Benny's, polished off with a generous slice of vanilla cheese cake!! YUM :P

The other half was out when I got back but I received a lovely welcome from the 2 kitty cats. Especially my baby Nell. I started unpacking, sorted out my clothes and went into the spare room, came back and found someone making a little statement:

Nell: Please don't go away again Mamma, if I sit in this bag you cant!!

Me: Are you coming down stairs for a cuddle Nelly?
Nell: Hmmmm yes please Mamma :)

And when I came downstairs to take a couple of photos someone had decided to get snugly straight away. She looks very contented don't you think?

Here is a photo of the magazine tote I bought from Matalan, its quite large....perfect I think for my sewing room.

There is a gorgeous embossed flower pattern on the front, you can just about see it here. It will go lovely with the wallpaper I have chosen.

And last of all I managed to get the last bits of hand sewing done for my 'Freestyle' swap (cant show you yet though) and knitted lots more rectangles for Nell's new blanket. This is a photo of the rectangles that I've managed to get sewn together so far......lots more still to do.

Lots of emails and orders to get sorted now so best be off to get them done.

Why I love my Note book :)

... because I can still say 'Hi' from up north :) What a little gadget, I don't know how I ever got by without it. My little lap top is becoming almost as essential as my lip gloss!! ha ha. No really you ask the other half, who will probably tell you I need to have it surgically removed ;)

Any who thought I'd just pop by and leave a post....although the weather has not been that great today I did (with help from my Mama) get some of the kitty blanket stitched together. I need to knit A LOT MORE rectangles now, but its starting to take shape. I cant post any photos just yet but will do so once I'm back at HQ.

Yesterday was spent catching up with a few friends and family which was lovely and today I had a quick trip to Matalan (for those outside of the UK its a large chain store which sells clothes and home wares). It was the home wares part I was after, I had some vouchers to spend and was on the look out for something we might need. That was until I spotted a very gorgeous biscuit coloured magazine tote, which has a lovely embossed flower motif on the front. I wont be using it as a magazine tote.....Oh no....I thought it would make a great accessory for my sewing room when its finished, I thought I could store the fabric that is currently being used for w.i.p or something similar. And that with some new socks was the vouchers spent.

Tomorrow is going to be spent on some serious over indulging....shopping, lunch, shopping, coffee, shopping, dinner, then the concert :)

Hope you all had a fab bank holiday (again UK) weekend.

Home....

Tomorrow I'm off up home to visit my parents. For those of you who don't know, although I live in Nottingham now my home town is Consett, County Durham. Not many people have heard of Consett or Durham for that matter. So to make things easier I say I'm from Newcastle most people guess that from my accent.

Durham is such a beautiful City, it has a very pretty Cathedral that sits on the River Wear. Its quite a quaint city with some of it still having cobbled streets.

Its been a while since I was up home, I'm in need of a break and was starting to feel a little home sick. I've bought tickets to see Girls Aloud on Tuesday so I'm taking my Mam out for a meal then to the show, thought it would be nice to have a girls night out. I'm taking what I have made so far for my kitty blanket as my Mam has said she will help knit some rectangles (since she is the master at knitting I'm sure I'll come back with most of them finished) :)

I'm also going to take the last bits of my swap with me so that I can finish the hand sewing. There's not much to do, but will mean I can tick them off the 'to do' list. Today the weather has been glorious. I have a confession to make!!! Today is the first time since LAST summer that I have washed my car! :/ I know bad isn't it? I felt so sorry for her today (yes, its a girl...my little fiesta) she was filthy inside and out. Since I only use her to go to and from work she is used and abused I'm afraid. I vacuumed inside, cleaned the windows, polished the dash, cleaned the seats, threw the rubbish out :/ washed, dried, t-cutted then Turtle Waxed her. And she is shinning like a new penny!! Looks like a new car so I'm very happy too. Just need the other half to check the oil and water and she's ready for the 2 hour journey tomorrow.

Audrey's Country Crafts Bag Swap - Sent

Now that Alexandra (Daisies Days) has received her bag swap parcel I can now show you the bag I made.

As Alex said her favourite colour was purple....off I went on a mission to find some yummy fabric and found these two shades of purple. Inside the lining is a lovely lemon colour cotton.

And some felted flowers (which I bought from Paper-and-string even before I started blogging) so I thought they would be perfect to embellish the bag. Alex also likes buttons so there are some in the middle of the flowers.

And then I thought I would have a go at a felt purse so after a couple of hours of sketching and hand sewing this is what I came up with. There is a little diamante in the centre of the flower.....couldn't resist a little bit of sparkle :)

Pop over to Daisie Days to have a look at the other goodies I put in her parcel. One swap down 2 to go...... I LOVE SWAPS!!! :)