Saltram

Hope you are all enjoying the good weather! I am loving it myself. Yesterday we went to a lovely place called Saltram. Its a National Trust house & gardens. Gorgeous place to go - was so relaxing as it was a work day it was pretty empty. Got to meander round the garden at my leisure and take some photos. Lovely day out.

There was some jumping..

And some smelling..

So many gorgeous flowers

And just a little more jumping...

catharine x

olympic torch

So we went to see the Olympic torch on Saturday on the first day of it's journey. Im quite lucky in that I live only 10 mins walk from one of the roads it was going down! So we obviously went out to watch it :) I'm not really a sports person - i've never really watched the Olympics before - and I have to admit I probably won't watch much of it this year. But as it is in my country this time, and I am unlikely to get the opportunity to see something like that again, I wanted to go. It was quite exciting - lots of people there. Was nice that people were getting into the spirit of things.

Took some pictures. They aren't very good. But they were moving constantly, and pushing us back from getting too close. But you get the idea ;-)

catharine x

carrots

Day off work = crafting time :) Here is tuesdays little make.

Made him to send to my friend Charlotte. I hope she likes!

And here is the back. Can't forget a little tail.

catharine x

bunting

Hope you have had a good weekend. I spent mine making this bunting. All 6.75m of it! I wanted to make my staircase a bit prettier. Personalise it a bit considering I can't decorate as i'm only renting. Bunting is perfect!

First I chose some fabrics I wanted to use. I went for Pinky-Purply-Creamy-Greeny shades.. my favourite colours and ones that blend together well. Feminine and floral prints too.

Try to ignore my rather uninspiring ironing board cover ;)

I cut out 23 flags (as I call them) and arranged them in an order I liked. Pretty much went plain floral plain floral etc etc.

Then I sewed them together - right sides facing inwards. No need to sew the straight edge of the semicircle together as that will be in the bias tape.. and also helps you turn them the right way out easily.

Turned them right side out and then ironed flat (still keeping them in order so I dont forget how I liked them!)

I pinned and tacked them to the bias tape (that I had already ironed in half). I then used my machine to sew all along the tape securing them in place. I have to admit to not being the best at sewing in a straight line.. but I dont mind when its for me. And you can't see it unless you look reaalllllyyy closely. So it's all good.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of this stage. But it's quite straightforward :)

But here is the finished thing, all hung up.

Sharing this post on Ta-Dah! Tuesday

catharine x

hama

Did you ever used to play with Hama beads when you were younger? Well I did. And I have a confession to make. I still use them now! They make such pretty shapes.. and I use them for coasters.

Here are a few of mine..

You get a really nice texture on both sides so you can flip them over for variety. Below is a picture of the underside (the side that isn't heated with an iron)

catharine x

waking up early

Back to work after a long weekend is so difficult. Especially the getting up early part. Gross >.<

Anyway.. just a few little things today.

A little flower decoration I made! Loved the fabric - is a Liberty scrap that I got in a bundle. Think I may make some more of these. They would be lovely filled with lavender!

Isn't this fabric cute? I bought a FQ of it from eBay a while back intending to make a cushion with it. Now that I have it.. I don't want to put it on a cushion thats just going to get sat on and lots of wear and tear. Any ideas of what to use it for?

And lastly.. look what my friend Charlotte made & sent me! I adore the card too.

catharine x

Homespun Style by Selina Lake

Thought I would share with you this absolutely gorgeous book I treated myself to the other week. I had quite a few points on my Waterstones card so decided it was about time I spent them! Managed to get this book for half price with my points off so it was perfect.

I waited anxiously for it to arrive.. it took its time.. ending up at the neighbours first. But when it did get here.. i fell in love...

Just a few pictures from inside the book. Lovely photographs. And even prettier rooms. Every page is a delight. I highly recommend it!

catharine x

lopwell dam

On saturday Ollie, his brother Elliott and I went for a drive to place on Dartmoor called Lopwell Dam. Its quite remote there.. nice and quiet and a great place for a walk. Luckily for us the tide was low so we were able to walk across the damn and explore the woods around it. Here are some pictures of our adventures!

Me and my wellies

There was a lovely house up on the hill.. Wouldn't mind living there myself ;) 

I hate it when I take a close up pic of a flower.. get home and realise there were bugs on the flower!!

With these photos below I was testing out a trick I read about on A Beautiful Mess blog (link to the side) where you take your lense off the camera and hold it infront a little bit. I think I quite like it.. the pictures look a bit ghostly. They are by no means perfect.. certainly not sharp. But I think its something I will play around with in the future. Ended up putting a nasty fingerprint on the lense though.. oops!