I know I said I wouldn't be around much this week

but when a parcel full of these arrived from Moogsmum today, I was so excited I had to share it with you!

Each packet was beautifully wrapped in this lovely printed tissue paper which I carefully folded and kept!

The whole parcel smelt of lavender due to this pear made from some fabulous fabric printed with foxgloves.

I also got some machine threads (I can never have enough machine threads!) and this beautiful glass bead.

A fabulous Moogsmum fabric basket lined with more of that fabric - I already have one of these which is in constant use so know I will use this too! And look at the lovely embroidery.

A couple of Moogschickens I think!

And if that wasn't enough some super fabrics and these little buckles!

What a wonderful surprise to win all this in a 200th post giveaway! And as this is my 199th post there could be a giveaway here soon too!

A Flock of Crows

Despite your obvious enthusiasm I'm not going to be knitting a flock of sheep, however there does seem to be a flock of crows descending on the Fan My Flame household. When I first saw one of these crazy crows on Julie's blog a few weeks ago I was certain they would make a great project for our Young Embroiderers Group and as I've just taken over as leader I'm in need of a few great projects! So I set to work on a couple of samples....

First of all there was Russell....

And then his special friend Sheryl...

So today I took Russell and Sheryl along to my first meeting with the Young Embroiderers and these are the fantastic results. Not all of them are finished yet but they are all looking good.

As for Russell and Sheryl... I turned my back for two minutes and this is what happened...

A Baby Crow!

On Thursday I had a trip up to the Knitting and Stitching show at the NEC. I was a bit disappointed with the show, only a few of the really good traders were there although there were some amazing exhibitions - do check out the work of Embroiderer's Guild scholar Linda Marie Young if you get a chance - exquisite work! However I did get to meet a couple of lovely bloggers - Kayla Coo and Charlotte of Fancy Picnic. I did take photographs of the amazing brooches they were both wearing but the pictures were fuzzy and awful (operator error) so you'll just have to visit their blogs to see their lovely work.

My new module for Opus starts on Monday and several teaching commitments start next week so I might not be around a lot for a while - but I am coming up to 200 posts soon so don't go away!

Baa Baa Fat Sheep!

This strange and curious creature is the result of many hours of frustration and unravelling! I have nothing but admiration for those of you make woolly monkees, rabbits and pigeons etc. This is the first and last time I make a knitted sheep! I really can't be doing with all those little shaped pieces.

Every Christmas (I said that word again... sorry) Eve at the Carol Concert in our village church all the little children take a toy sheep and place it in the stable of the nativity tableau. Last year a friend asked if I could make a sheep for her daughter in time for this year.

I knew it wouldn't be easy so I started early...

Unfortunately it has turned out considerably bigger than I expected and will probably look more like a woolly mammoth than a little sheep when placed next to all the others!

I really hope I don't have to make another one!

Happiness

A HUGE thank you to everyone who left me a comment on my last post. I've not got around to replying to everyone as work deadlines etc are looming and making demands on my time but you all said such lovely things that made me feel better so THANK YOU! And that got me thinking, that although I felt sad about Ben going on Sunday and I know I will miss him I didn't stay sad for long because that's not what I'm like (and of course there is the realisation that it's a lot less laundry.) On the whole I'm lucky that I'm quite an upbeat and optimistic person... probably irritatingly so! Lots of things make me happy and I never stay down for long, so when Julia sent me this tree of happiness a while ago I pondered long and hard about what "six things that make me happy" to choose.


There all the big things like my family and my home, all the good friends I have - of course all these make me happy. But it's finding pleasure in all the small things in life that makes me happy too... so these are six things from a long list.

1. Being able to walk with my dog every morning makes me happy. I don't even mind if it is wet and cold, I love getting up and starting every day with a walk.

2. At the end of a long day, there's nothing better than a hot bubbly bath, preferably with a glass of wine and a good book, to soak one's troubles away!

3. Talking of good books... books make me happy too and I love losing myself in a good novel. This is what I'm currently reading and I'm loving it... all the magic and the mystery and of course chocolate!

4. Okay - this one is really shallow but new shoes make me happy! Especially my very own lollipop shoes. Haven't worn these yet but I keep taking them out of the box just to look at them!

5. You might have guessed this one but cooking and baking make me happy, especially if it means the sharing of food with family and friends which I think is one of life's greatest pleasures. I'm home on my own today so no food to share in pictures!

6. Blogging makes me happy because I've discovered a new world of friendship and support. There are times when I wonder if it takes up too much time or is becoming too repetitive - Ali wrote a post about this recently - and sometimes I stay away for a few days, but then I read a post that makes me laugh out loud, or makes me think about something new or sometimes even cry and than I remember why I love blogging. I'm sure it will run its course as most things in life but I'm certain the friendships made will remain.

So these are just six of my favourite things - things that make me happy. Of course there are many others like getting mail (not bills and junk mail), sleeping in a freshly made bed, the smell of laundry fresh from the line, learning something new, teaching, chocolate... I could go on!

I'm probably supposed to pass this on and probably to six bloggers who make me happy but I won't! If you're reading this and have got this far (lots of words for me!) than take the tree of happiness and let us know what makes you happy!

Flying the nest.

Today has felt like a huge milestone in our lives. The first of my children has left home. Ben has moved out to share a flat in London with three of his friends from University. It is a wonderful and exciting time for him. Even though they've all lived away at various times, this somehow feels different. His room is empty and all his things are gone. The journey through life that we have with our children is full of ups and downs, happy times and sad times but ultimately you hope you do a good job and they can go off and make their way in the world as confident, independent and happy adults.

This is me 26 years ago (younger than Ben is today!) decorating what was to be a nursery, when Ben was a barely visible bump!

They start out as this tiny new person
.

They grow up and become fun companions.


Somone to laugh and joke about with.

You send them out to school, into the big wide world... their early steps in independence! Difficult as many of you have found this week.

And before you know it they've grown up and made you immensely proud.

Ben seemed to go off today a confident, independent and happy adult.

It's just me that feels a bit sad!

So this afternoon I've sat on the Sofa and watched the 1959 film "Our Man in Havana" which made me laugh, and finished off a few more of these characters.

They have yet to be named, and I'm a bit concerned about this last one's feet (not to mention his eyes) but it's kept me occupied.

And if I still feel sad this evening there is always the ultimate comfort food... bread and butter pudding! This one made was with a left over Panatonne.

I've just realised that I need to change my profile... as I only live with five men now!!!

More books!

I love my postcard book from Little Paper Bird so much that curiosity started to get the better of me. I looked a little closer and started to unfold the pages to see how they were made. Then I thought about Sarah's comment that I should try some book making and that was it - I was away....


I found a sheet of beautiful marbled paper that we'd brought back from Florence... and not being one to mess about with a rough model first... I cut it up and started folding!

And a few hours later I had my own little postcard book!

I didn't quite get my measurements right so a standard postcard is a little too big to fit in the pages.

And my folding isn't anything like as neat and accurate as Sarah's.

But I was really pleased with my little book and now I want to make more!

This isn't my first attempt at book making and I've made quite a few small books following a brilliant weekend course a couple of years ago with Heather Power, who is primarily a printmaker but makes books too. These two are about 4 x 6 cm each.

And this one is about 9 cm square.

Did I mention that I love books?

I Love Books

I love all sorts of books.

I love to read cook books and imagine all manner of feasts we might eat.

I love children's picture books with their bold and bright illustrations. I still have a large collection from when the boys were small.

Old favourites.

I love travel books with their promise of exotic places to visit.

And old books with their musty smell and yellowing pages.

I'm a recent convert to Persephone books with their elegant exterior, beautiful end papers and wonderful stories within.

But most of all I can't resist blank sketchbooks and I have far more of these than I will ever fill. There is something about the empty pages waiting to be coloured in or written on that pulls me in every time.

So when I discovered Little Paper Bird I knew resistance was futile! Today I became the owner of this gorgeous little postcard book. It has a subtle printed cover.

And inside there are magically folded pages that hold postcard sized bits of paper in which I can put postcards or paintings or both.

I love my new book!

Another irresistible book was this small sketchbook with a gold leather cover and recycled paper pages which came from the Klimt exhibition. Jude and I were very restrained in the Tate shop and had limited ourselves to pack of postcards each... then I spotted this little book.

I feigned resistance... I couldn't possibly justify another blank book. Jude suggested I could embroider a cover for it inspired by Klimt. She picked one up too... perhaps she could embroider a Klimt style cover. Then I suggested we could both embroider covers and then exchange them as Christmas* presents. And so the gauntlet was thrown and we had ourselves a little challenge... and the perfect excuse to buy another blank book. Come back in four months and you might see the results!

* Apologies for using the C word in September!