Random Owl Love

Heelllooo!!! Don't you just love my happy daffy teapot? They look even more spectacular now as all of the flowers have burst open. Really cheers up that corner of the kitchen.

There has been quite a bit of owl loving lately. I bought an owl cushion from Primark on Saturday and then found myself there again this afternoon and noticed they had a slightly different owl- so naturally I had to get the new one to make up a pair! The last owl cushion I want is a rectangular one with three owls on it, but the Primark in Leicester never seems to stock it. So if anyone has one in a Primark near them....

I had some fabulous post today! Some more badges for my camp blanket...

A lovely letter from my Grandad and another parcel from the Mother. One of the best so far!! Check out the crochet owl! So cute!

Cushions!

I went for a quick shop this afternoon- for essentials you understand- and somehow ended up with a few unexpected cuddlesome cutesomes hopping into the basket.... My new owl who I think fits in rather well with my colourful bedroom, and my new doorstop, Roo (short for Rooster) who now guards the door.

I also went and bought a cushion filler for the cushion range I am designing for Purvaai Home Decor. I hadn't looked at sizes and was only hoping and praying that the cushion filler would fit the spontaneous cushion I made yesterday. With baited breath and fingers crossed, I tried the fit when I got home this afternoon, and would you believe it? A PERFECT FIT!! As if I had carefully considered measurements and sizes... Incredible! I am better at this game than I thought! So here it is then, the first cushion made by Beth Power for Purvaai Textiles....

Triple ♥

Evening All!! Sorry I haven't been around lately, I've been working very hard on my latest university project and haven't really had a chance to catch up with you all in blogland!
Look at my fabulous new bunting made by the very talented Mother and sent to me in my latest parcel from home. I have hung it in pride of place on my fireplace.

It was a fabulous parcel with malteasers, a terracotta rabbit you grow cress in, some pretty cup cake cases, sweeties, a date book with important dates (like hairdressing appointments and Mother's Day), and of course the bunting!!

 

Two other things have been making me happy this week. Number one is my granny square blanket which only has eight more squares and a wide border to go. (I am also in the process of setting up a Knit & Knatter group with my mixed media class which I am very excited about!!)

 

Secondly is my teapot full of daffodils!! I fell in love with these happy daffys in Sainsburys and bought two bunches (£1 each- bargain!). But when I got them home remembered I had nothing to put them in so had to cast my eye over the kitchen. I think the tea pot works quite well! Should look very sweet when they begin to flower.

Post Paris Post

 

It is amazing what can happen in such a short space of time! My second pot of narcissus is flowering happily on my windowsill, and my crochet blanket is coming on a treat! They are both blooming before my eyes!

 

I have been redecorating my room with some souvenirs from Paris- I really love the prints that you can buy in the tourist shops and possibly went a little overboard....they do look really lovely over my fireplace though!

As you know I also collect fabric badges for my camp blanket and found 3 that I really loved! What do you think? The Eiffel Tower one is stitched with gold thread so it sparkles just like the real tower.

There were several posted treats waiting for me when I got back, some white ATC returns...

 (By Julia)

 (By Annie)                                                   (By Alison)

And I also had a package from the Aunt with an unexpected present (aren't those the best?)!

Such sweet little flowers!

Pre Paris

 

 Evening All!! I got a highly exciting package just before Paris- a secret surprise parcel from The Mother!! I was a tad miffed to have strict opening instructions and ended up watching the clock on Saturday 9th until I could open it!!

You could have cut the tension with a knife!! So exciting! Peeling back the layers to the surprise underneath...

A lovely hand coloured Chinese New Year card (year of the snake I believe)...

And a whole gaggle of goodies!!

A Chinese tradition at New Year is to give envelopes of money to their loved ones...

And my money was edible! Even better!

The Mother has recently taken up crochet so she made me these little hearts that I am going to put together and decorate!

Apparently as I was such a good girl and waited until the designated time to open the parcel, I am getting another one!! I will keep you posted on that when it arrives- too exciting for words!

Whilst The Mother has been crocheting, I have decided that it is high time for another blanket- this time a really simple stash buster blanket!

 

The squares are your traditional granny squares although to make them tighter I have only done one chain stitch between the triple treble stitches. I am also joining as I go which is sooooo much easier than stitching them all together at the end. The colours are randomly picked from my enormous stash of wool and the general plan is to do 10 x 10 squares and then a wide edge. It is coming along quite speedily!

♥ Paris!!!! ♥

Bonjour!! I am back from my short trip to Paris. Such a beautiful city!! The above and below pictures are of the pyramids of The Louvre Museum, aren't they amazing? Even more incredible in person believe me!

To get to the pyramid bit we walked through this beautifully crafted archway which had windows into the museum itself.

This was on the first night, and we didn't actually go into the museum itself but wandered around Paris looking for somewhere to eat. We came across the famous 'Love Lock Bridge'...

On the second day we were allowed to go off and explore for the whole day!! So we went to the fabric shops at the bottom of the Sacré Coeur hill- which were absolutely fantastic!! Not many of the shop attendants spoke English so it was quite a challenge to match up their broken English and my broken French. We got there in the end though and then took the rail cars up the hill to the Sacré Coeur, taking in the magnificent view!

The metro was invaluable for this trip and we probably spent most of our time on various trains. It does mean you can get around in a very short time though which is fantastic (just stressful if you are travelling during rush hour!)- for example from the Sacré Coeur to the Notre Dame!

There was some kind of car rally going on at the Notre Dame so we couldn't really get a great look at it which was a pity as it's been some years since I was last there. A very impressive building!

My favourite bit of the entire trip was when I went up the Eiffel Tower!!! So excited!! We came out of the train station and there it was, waiting for us!! And suddenly it started glittering and twinkling! I mean, talk about timing!

It got more exciting as we got closer as the scale of the thing really started to sink in. Having never been that close to it before I was literally skipping with excitement!! Two lifts later and we were nearly at the very top!!

And then up one short flight of stairs....we were outside in the frrrreeeezzzzing cold, on the TOP of the Eiffel Tower!!! Magic!

It was great to be able to pick out some really famous buildings in the view, like the Notre Dame, The Palace of Versailles, The French version of the London Eye, the Arc de Triomphe...

All too soon we had to come down again but it is one thing to tick off my bucket list...and possibly to do again!!

The next few days were taken up with going to a giant fabric trade fair and souvenir shopping- I must show you my new pictures sometime!!
Our hotel (Best Western) was really lovely and friendly. The breakfasts were AMAZING!! Endless amounts of croissants, pan au chocolates, scrambled egg & sausages, cereal, yoghurt, toast, ham & cheese....and the most beautiful hot chocolate EvEr!!! Oh just thinking about it makes my tummy rumble- do you think they would deliver to Leicester if I rang their room service?
We had a very funny painting in our room- and it turned out there were similar paintings of the same type of women doing different activities in many of the other rooms.

On the last day we were wandering around doing a bit of shopping and sampling french cuisine- namely macaroons!! They were delicious!

I bought a giant one for the journey home and ate it whilst on the Eurostar. A fab end to a fab few days!!