WOYWW - Boxing Day

 Good morning all - Happy Boxing Day!!
As you can imagine - no work going on here today.
I thought you might like to see my little festive basket and my Christmas tree instead.
Can you spot my two little angels and one of my scrapbox dollies?

Lastly, here is the little pirate bag I made for a special little boy.
I filled his bag with pirate themed gifts just for fun!
Hope you had a good Christmas Day.
I am not sure how many others will be blog hopping today.
Maybe Julia will let us all have a festive snoop so I will pop over and add my name to Mr linky's list when I can. See you later.
x Jo

Christmas Eve

Well folks I have managed a daily advent blog and I am quite pleased with my effort.

Today one of Maxine's silk painted angels is heralding the birth of a special baby.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the whole world felt the love and joy of the birth of that baby and could live in peace and harmony.



Have a happy and peaceful Christmas
x Jo

You can never have enough robins!!

Day 23  Advent  countdown

We love robins in our family.

They are such cheery little birds and are always present in my garden.

This little robin was on the front of Annie's Christmas card last year.

I think she scanned her little cross stitch picture and then printed it on canvas paper.

It looks so lovely mounted up on her lacy bits and bobs.

See you tomorrow

x Jo

Advent day 22

This was my Christmas view last year.
This weekend its just cold wet and gloomy and certainly not as beautiful as this.
I don't think the forecast is for snow so we will make the best of this festive scene instead.

See you tomorrow.
x Jo

Advent day 21

Day 21  Advent  countdown

When two of my Yorkshire friends came to stay I taught them how to dumf (needle felt).
They loved it so, I packed little bags of wool rovings and yarns and sent them home to have fun. Even now, they still get together for a little dumfing session and really enjoy it.
The little shepherd above was made by one of them and sent to me as my Christmas card this year. How special is that? I love it - thanks Pat!!!

Not many sleeps left till Christmas.
Have a fun filled few days finishing off your preparations.

x Jo

Advent day 20

 

Guess where I am going today?

 

More pics tomorrow.

 

x Jo

WOYWW - Advent day 19

Just a quick post.
My table is a mess - I have been busy with all sorts of Christmas bits and bobs and really should have tidied up. So instead, I just covered it over with a lovely little fabric hanging pocket and beautiful handmade Christmas card that one of my Yorkshire friends made for me.

Now I need to find somewhere to hang the little pocket, clear my sewing room and put my Christmas tree up.

Well folks - I will be posting my advent posts daily up to Christmas but this is the last WOYWW so....
Merry Christmas to you all - have a lovely time and enjoy every minute.

x Jo

3 Kings - Advent day 18

Day 18  Advent  countdown

 

 

Just another little silk painting for advent - yes I know the kings came later but they always look so   colourful on a Christmas card don't they?
Maxine used a rubber stamp on silk for the image and then painted it with silk paint.


See you tomorrow.
x Jo

Robins a bobbin!

Day 17 of my Advent blog, countdown to Christmas
 

Good morning all - another fun day Monday -

AND some cheery little robins from a year or two ago.

I wonder where they are now!!

I always chop up my old cards and re-cycle any crafty bits and bobs.

Maybe some of these little robins made it to a gift tag before they hit the bin!!

Enjoy your day.

See you tomorrow.

x Jo

Trimming up for Christmas - Advent day 16

Day 16 of my Advent blog, countdown to Christmas

Well folks - when I eventually do get round to trimming up for Christmas - out will come the old favourites.

A "stained glass" Santa given to Maxine for her first Christmas and some little wooden Santas made by the same folk. 

It's so good to lift them out of the Christmas box and pop them on the hearth, fondly remembering the love and kindness given with them so many years ago.

Have a happy Sunday
x Jo

Advent day 15

Day 15 of my Advent blog, countdown to Christmas

Waiting for Christmas.........

At least Scruffy has a tree even if he hasn't got his decorations up yet!!!
( I have cheated - this is a photo taken last year - we don't really have snow just yet!)

x Jo

Finished by Friday - Advent day 14

Red is the colour!!!

 

 

My latest little shrug - finished this week. I have another larger one on the go.

I have been knitting these for the little girls for about 4 years and I just keep making the body a bit bigger and the sleeves a bit longer!

 

 

 

This little dolly is winging her way through the postal system - I wonder who will receive her?

 

 

 

These berries were frosted over in a winter wonderland yesterday. Today all is wet and gloomy so I am glad I snapped them when I did.

 

Right - head down with my picture gift sewing now - I love this bit, when they all start to come together. I can't show you what I am up to - that would spoil the surprises but after Christmas I will do a "picture post".

 

That's it for today - I hope I can find something to post about tomorrow!!!

 

x Jo



Bethlehem - Advent day 13

  Day 13 of my Advent blog, countdown to Christmas

Just two more of Maxine's little silk paintings.
When I run out of my own fabric Christmas cards, I will print a couple of these to mount as cards.
I love the way the silk paints blend into each other to form a beautiful Bethlehem sky.

All looks so peaceful - if only we could have genuine peace there this Christmas.

See you tomorrow
x Jo

WOYWW - Advent Day 12

My photo was taken in the gloom - so it's not easy for you to see what I have been up to. Also - the work at the front with the clematis photo is a "dumfed" Christmas gift or two so I don't want to expose all. The clematis is called "Josephine". When I left Yorkshire, I left 6 of these in the gardens of the North - just so they didn't forget me!!!
You can also see a few little Christmas mice, my Christmas angels and a couple of dollies.
Some of our mice and dollies are winging their way to Spain and Belgium!!!

The other thing to show and tell are Maxine's button heart cushions - following on my theme of yesterday's advent post.

She is having a Christmas Cushion Sale over on her Tilly Tea Dance blog.
Follow the link and pop over and have a look - email me if you want a quick sale!

Well that's it for today.
I have, so far, managed to keep my advent posts going - not easy at this time of year.
BUT WOYWW is a must so join in by checking out the festive desk of Mrs Dunnit and see what we are all up to in the frantic frenzy that is the build up to Christmas!!!

Thanks for all your lovely comments.
See you soon.
x Jo

Little hearts....

Day 11 of my advent blog, countdown to Christmas

 Little hearts that we have made for each other.

These are a few of the ones that I made for Maxine last year and they looked lovely hanging from her stairs in the hall way.

These gorgeous woolly delights were made from a felted jumper.

I found a bit of it left so I am tempted to make a few more - they are so cheery.

 

Maxine made these little hearts and cushions.

I think we have a few little hearts left.

AND lastly I loved this little heart brooch  made with felted woolly jumper and embellished with silk, beads and hand stitches.

So, lots of little hearts for Christmas time.

Which do you like best??

See you tomorrow.
x Jo

Christmas festive foliage

Day 10 of my advent blog, countdown to Christmas

Maxine has always enjoyed silk painting and you will see her work in a few of my advent posts.
Christmas is such a colourful time it lends itself to little silk painted cards so well.


Tiny silk painted/free machined poinsettia flowers...

A traditional Christmas tree shape...

This card was made by quilting through a piece of holly printed sheer fabric.

Look out for more little fabric cards on later advent posts!

See you tomorrow!
x Jo

Dancing dollies - Advent Day 9

  Day 9 of my Advent blog, countdown to Christmas

Just a festive row of dancing dollies for today. They are lined up in my tartan lined picnic box looking very cheery. I guess one or two may end up on my Christmas tree this time.
If you would like one for your tree then pop over to Sisters Crafty Creations and choose one!!

See you tomorrow.
x Jo

Frosty weather - Advent Day 8

 Day 8 of my Advent blog, countdown to Christmas

The weather forecast for today mentioned an icy blast moving in from the North east.

A good day to share a few of my frosty, wintery pictures.

Firstly, an early morning picture from my kitchen window.

Then  my little robin friend on a frosty hedgerow waiting for me to throw out a few crumbs.

And lastly some frosty plants and a cobweb - isn't nature wonderful.

That's it for today - see you tomorrow.

x Jo

Finished by Friday 7 and day 7 of advent.

It's taken me ages to tackle a few Christmas cards this year. I just couldn't find inspiration anywhere.
Then I saw the gorgeous Christmas wreath that Gina (of Fan my Flame blog) had made. See it here in her Etsy shop- Ginxie - it's worth popping over for a look.
She made it with handmade fabric poinsettias and Christmas roses and it really is stunning.
So, I thought I would use those flowers for my cards.
I must say that, although they looked simple, they took ages to make but I enjoyed playing with my sewing machine. The photos are poor as its been so gloomy today,

 This one is a little wreath made with a collage of Christmas fabric snippets and red flowers.

 Lastly - the little hoodie that I made for Steve. I have just received a photo of him wearing it and he looks a real poppet - so snuggly and cosy. I adapted the pattern for chunky wool.

Ok that's it for today.
Pop back tomorrow for Advent day 8.

x Jo

Peace

 Day 6 of my advent blog, countdown to Christmas

Doves - a symbol of peace

I made this needle felted dove for a friend a few years ago - when I first started making needle felted pictures I found birds easy to do as I have always loved them.

 Then I decided to print one off on linen and add a bit of vintage lace and embroidery to make my Christmas cards last year.
Here's hoping my doves will help bring a little peace to our troubled world.

See you with more "Craftiness for Christmas" tomorrow.

x Jo

WOYWW -Day 5 of advent

Good morning all - a double purpose to my blog post today.

I am trying to blog each day in the lead up to Christmas so check back at the other festive posts, if you are interested.

 

I have had a big clean up in my sewing room and my table is empty so I thought you might like to see what I have been busy with instead.

Annie gave me a pattern for a little fabic gift pouch so I gave it a go today.
I used old gold silk and some cream satin for the lining.
I am using it to pop a little scrapbox angel in ready to post to a special friend.
I think it looks OK - it turned out a bit soft and floppy and Annie said it needs to be stiff - erm... ladies!!!!
Yes - I should have used a crisp craft cotton but I quite like the softer look.

 Next is my first attempt at a Christmas card.
I just can't get going with them this year.
This one has a little photo of snowdrops printed onto linen and then mounted over some tartan fabric with a little lace trim.
With a little more effort, I think it might be OK








And lastly - on funday Monday, Annie and I made a few more Christmas mice and I popped them in the blog shop - we sold all the others this week!

That's it for today.
I hope you all have lots of lovely Christmas ideas for me to snoop as I blog hop around the WOYWW desks today.
Thanks for calling in here - please leave a little comment and then I can zoom over to see what you are up to.

x Jo
PS _ Just added my name to Mr Linky and read Julia's post.
Then I popped over to check out Santas Challenge - I think I will be donating - such great work going on there and such a gorgeous little girl called Alya and her Mum Caroline, who many of us know through this lovely blogging family WOYWW. Check it out -!

Stocking fillers

 Day 4 of my advent blog, countdown to Christmas

 What do you like to pop in Christmas stockings?

I always try to find a few little gifts to pop in Maxine's stocking - she still likes a stocking full of tiny surprises even at her age!!

We have lots of gift items in Sisters Crafty Creations blog shop.

Just in case you are looking for tiny gifts - how about these.......

Brooches in all shapes and sizes made from felted wool and embellished with beads, embroidery, buttons etc







Little poppy "dumfling" mounted on red board mount.
This is one of Maxine's - leave me a comment if you would like to buy this one. Or check out the lovely felted pictures and mini felts in the blog shop.






Tiny teddies - all with their own little poem.
Even some little Christmas teddies to hang on the tree.

How about a "Hang about" for popping your crafty bits and bobs in whilst you are crafting in your armchair. It will also sit on a table edge to catch all the scraps as you work.

Little Rose is one of Annie's little needle felted animals.


Go on treat yourself to a little window shopping over at Sisters Crafty Creations!!



AND if you want to see some lovely Christmas stockings - check out
http://boxoftrix.blogspot.co.uk/

More festive cheer for WOYWW tomorrow!!
x Jo

Angel day

 Day 3 of my advent blog, countdown to Christmas.

Three beautiful leaded glass angels made by a friend of a colleague.

I take them out of their box and pop them on my hearth each Christmas and remember that colleague each time. Sadly she is no longer with us.

Three little angels collaged onto satin in a Christmas card made by Maxine - when she had time for crafty activities.

And little angel Phoebe - she was with all the other scrapbox dollies in the blog shop but my good buddy wanted her for a little Christmas gift, so she has flown off to bring a little bit of peace and joy elsewhere.

There are still plenty left on the Scrapbox dolly shelf in Sisters Crafty Creations!

See you tomorrow

x Jo