When Life Gives You Lemons.

Or rather when a friend shares with you some of the latest range of Tilda Lemon Tree Collection, then you just want to do them proud and make something lovely and usable. 

I wanted to make something functional and practical for my home and what better than a couple of items for the kitchen.

Using a beautiful piece of gifted feed sack fabric I used an assortment of fabric pieces to add a bright and cheery  band to the bottom of the kitchen towel and then a couple of applique lemons above.

Using the left-overs I had enough to make a pot mat/holder with some using Insul-Brite for the batting. They are going to look great hanging on the oven door. 

Once I knew what I was going to make the rest was quite simple and easy to put together and I am thinking of making a few more sets to add to the gift box.

Here are a couple of tutorials from Pinterest.

Get this one here.

And these delightful houses by Kerryanne can be found here.

and of course a tutorial from Jenny who gifted me the fabric.

Can't wait to see what she is making from her selection of fabric!

Keep creating.

Lets Prepare.

I've seen lots of blogs out there talking about being prepared and making gifts ahead of time and having had a gift box for a couple of years now I don't need to be convinced of the benefits. Sometimes a little encouragement and inspiration is required to push me along and get started again.

Nothing beats dipping into this goodie box and looking for something a friend or family member will enjoy as a special gift.

Something purple for our daughter in law. She has been giving hints for the last couple of years and trying to steal mine......maybe I'm a slow hint taker!! She is sure to love this casserole carrier. Both only took a couple of hours each to make.

But that's not all..... I made another smaller one for her as well. Now she will have large and small dishes covered.

I love my little stash of handmade tags.

This little zippered pouch will be added to the box as well.

Love the little points, a bit fiddly but don't they just dress it up a bit..

I have also included a few links to lovely items from others who have the same idea.

Jenny's making book marks and hot packs here. The bookmakers are super beautiful and may just find their way into some of my books.

Fee's making tissue covers here. I did a few of these last year and they make a cute little gift to tuck in with something else.

There is a tutorial for a microwave bowl cozy here. I have been looking at making a few of these for the grandies as they are very handy making noodles in the microwave.

How about sewing up an apron for a friend who likes to cook? There's a great tutorial over here.

There are loads of ideas out there and Pinterest is a good place to start your search.

Home and Family.

Having found a great deal of old family photos after loved ones have passed on,  it is both sad and frustrating that you don't know what the stories behind the photos and the people in them are. So I endeavor to write the story of our photos for the following generations by way of albums and journaling. It might even help me later when even I can't remember!

It usually takes me a few weeks to put together a new album from start to finish, and sometimes the finishing takes a little longer but I always become immersed in the process of designing, measuring, cutting, gluing, and sometimes then discarding and starting again.

Beautiful paper and inspirational verses just catch the eye and make you want to create something that will give pleasure to yourself and others.

I like to make lots of pockets or bands to hold extra cards for photos or journaling.

These days with beautiful collections of corresponding papers and embellishments it's easy to put together a lovely album......it's a lot like patchwork.

I still need to stamp the backs of the tags with an assortment of pretty stamps that tie the theme together, then to start collecting the photos that will go onto the pages and to write the story.

As you can see, this album will be about home and family.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Keep Creating.

Anyone for Coffee?

I recently found a couple of orphan photo frames in my pile of "to do" things and thought it was about time I made another chalk board sign.

I would have liked a more ornate frame, but had to make do with what was in the stash! So after a sand, chalk paint and wax for the frame and a new backing chalk board I have something new!

Don't you just love Pinterest for ideas!