My Best Friend, Peppy…..Forever…May he enjoy his sweet dreams xxxxxxxxx

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A sad tale, A Weimaraner so dear, Gone but never forgotten, My BEST Friend, My Peppy, RIP my loving friend, The loss of a loved one

….whom I have no more…..Earlier this evening, I held him for the last time…. For 12 years he has followed my every step, to and fro wherever I went….I am proud and honoured to have been his human – he trained me so well!! …now, he can rest in peace….and enjoy the sweet dreams I wished him as he passed…My heart is broken……………….

Already missing for some time here on blogville, as life has been getting in the way…. I am taking a little moment to say, after tonight, and my heartbreaking event, I am taking an indefinite blogging break, whilst I mourn my constant companion and best friend of the last twelve years ! This, on top of recent globally reported events, of such sad and tragic losses of innocent lives, not even twelve miles from where I live, is more than I wish to comprehend in my life atm I’m sure you will understand if I do not respond/reply any time soon to any comments. Life is hard for many reasons and my heart is also broken for the loss of all those innocent young lives lost for no reason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lump in my throat is so large I cannot say more at this time…I wish everyone good health and happiness as I share a few more pics of my beloved Peppy….xxxx…at peace now……………………………

‘He’s being a baby again!’ All his life, he suckled on soft animals for comfort, I think, as he had such a severe case of separation anxiety, he couldn’t bear to be out of sight with me at any point in any of our days together…even a trip to the bin without him would result in a greeting, as if he hadn’t seen me for weeks!

My puppy – Peppy…The very first pastel portrait I did of him when he was still just a little pup…has always hung above my head watching down on what I do on the computer each and every day, and now I have his company still, immortalised, even though not still here…….

Hettie – Why So Sad? A special pastel portrait of Hetti, Peppy’s sibling

‘Its Peppy – Again!’ Abstract Version

‘Its Peppy – Again!’ (In Sepia this time!!)

Double trouble lol two combined portrait versions of Peppy, in his youth, out in our back garden…He was always such a handsome chap!

What!!! wake up NOW??!!

I, hereby judge myself the most handsome Weimaraner ever!!!!!!! Spoilt…Moi – well… just a little bit……….perhaps 😉

Look !!!! I caught the snowball ….  😀

……Still, in my broken heart………and forever………………………………

A little ray of sunshine!

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Creative corner, Garden feature corner, Golfer garden statue, Mini Stonehenge, Morning sun, Unusual garden features

My mini ‘Stonehenge’ and a cute little golfer bathed in the morning sun

Okay!…maybe I don’t have fairies at the bottom of the garden…. just a lone stone golfer atop my ‘rockery’ 😉

My Wisteria has flowers….at last…Woohoo :-D

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Garden flowers, My Wisteria has flowers at last, Nature, Photography, Wisteria waiting

Captured against a typical northern England sky. ..(I even brightened and colour enhanced the picture, which seemingly did little to lift the depressing grey spirited day :-/) Still,  the first eagerly awaited flowers of my Wisteria, planted the best part of a decade ago!!!! Nature has it’s own set of plans…and my wishing along could change nothing…..

 

Tiny they may be…BUT, flowers nonetheless YAY!! After waiting for almost nine years since first planting the white flowering Wisteria, it’s the first sign I may have gorgeous long blooms next year and many more years to come……….

A colourful little affair happened…. over the Easter weekend!

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Artist and crafter, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Colourful Bed Topper, Crafty creations, Creative colourful Quilts, Creative crafting, Fabric art creations, Fabric Off Cuts to competed quilts, Fun with fabrics, Hand Quilted Patchwork Quilts, Large Lap Quilts, Patchwork Picnic Blanket, Patchwork Quilt Throw Cover, Snooze Snuggle Rug, Unique Patchwork Creations

Scrappy quilt 2# – why does the wind always catch the quilts just when I think I have it nailed for a pic?!!

As Easter weekend was destined to be miserable…(children had visited the weekend before-due to having their own plans for Easter itself) Dearest had a ”million and one” sport programs he ‘needed’ to watch (sigh!!)….I don’t eat chocolate….And, the weather forecast was dire ;-/….SO…what else..??… I chose to dive back into my fabric off cut bag 😉

So as not to bore you all with the same steps as the week previous quilt make, as it is seemingly almost the same (although these little squares of colour all start off surrounding a central skewed ‘square’)..see here..if you missed it/or interested…

A little close up of colours and form…I love the way the profile has raised by adding them to a cotton wadding backing when first making them, obviously helped even more by quilting around them 😉

Simple hand quilting makes it even more hand made and special I think…so many hours and tiny stitches are worth it in the end

Some happy little scraps go a long way when put together! 

After two large lap quilts out of one carrier bag’s worth of tiny off cuts, my first notion of there being another 20 in there hiding awaiting discovery, is a complete underestimate!! I even feel there is more fabric in that bag now, than when I started, given adding off cuts from these two makes LOL ;-D I seriously feel I could spend the rest of my life just working from that bag….trouble is …I needed a refreshing change from seeing the same fabrics over and over again! So….. sneaked of to buy a few more new bits YAY… Already have plans for them, but, maybe it’s time for a little art therapy to recover from all the hand quilting 😉

 

Colourful Quilt Creation

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Artist and crafter, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Colourful Cosy Lap Quilt, Crazy Patchwork Quilt, Creative moment, Fun with fabrics, Hand quilting, Patchwork with tiny scraps, Picnic Rug Blanket, Snooze Blanket, Unique Colourful Creations

…..using up new, but, tiny off cuts of fabric…..

A little over a week ago, I finally tipped out my bags of leftover cotton fabrics, with full intent to use them ALL up in one project (how wrong I was on that though)!! I’d been keeping the bits quite orderly in separate colourway bags… but then….came face to face with this unruly scrappy looking pile………

Somewhere….within,  lay my next project   ;-0

Not daunted by their tiny sizes, my main concern was to make something with some kind of symmetry in the final finished piece, whilst also avoiding putting too much thought into choosing every single piece to go next to the last as I sewed, otherwise it would never get done….. So, I tipped the piles into a kind of colour ‘blob area’ next to the sewing machine, all within arms length, where I could just grab a piece randomly and stitch away wherever it would fit in and around the ‘crazy patchwork method’ I had decided to go with…. For some stability I decided also to stitch them onto some pre-cut small squares of cotton wadding, which I later trimmed back to neat 5.5” square

Things were definitely looking very colourful by now 😉

For this project, I had made a pact with myself,  and decided I wasn’t going to go and buy Anything!!!!….it would all have to be done from what I already had! So, I picked a lovely lime cotton print which seemed to keep the super colourful theme on track… after measuring to make sure there was sufficient to cut all the remaining squares I needed, I realised I would have just enough to bind too, if I pieced five lengths together  😀 ……Already doing a happy dance and I’d not even started sewing the squares together lol

Once assembled into a large panel, I used lightweight synthetic wadding and added a cream cotton backing before hand quilting over the entire piece…

….believing…’you can Never have too much colour!!’ … I added in a lovely bright blue around the border, which I think, added just the perfect balance to the whole look and completed by hand stitching down the lime binding  😉

Another cosy colourful creation completed! 

At 42” x 60” it’s the perfect size for a Snuggle snooze blanket/Lap quilt/A single bed topper…OR even a super picnic rug!

I’m super happy with this little quilt which emerged from the scraps…. though, I still have issues with my left overs ;-/  Although I made 42 (5.5 x 5.5) squares…In the end, it didn’t even look as though I’d used any from the pile at all!! On that basis, I reckon there are at least another 20 quilts waiting to be ‘discovered’ in the scrap bag….better set to again then  😉 !!

Puppy Love Peg Bag

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2017 Peg Bag Designs, Artist and crafter, Bernard and Betty Bullfrog Peg Bag, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Creativity, Cute and quirky Peg Bags, Cute Button and Felt Frogs, Cute Felt Picture Peg Bags, Fabric art, Fully lined Peg Bags, Fun with fabrics, Hand Appliques Felt designs, Novelty Clothes Pin Bags, Painted Wooden Hanger, Posh peg pouches, Puppy Love Peg Bag, Unique Designer Peg Bags, Wooden Buttons

Puppy Love 🙂

A couple more new Peg / Clothes Pin Bag designs! After eight in a week – All lovingly handmade and designed to add a little fun to Wash Days – it’s time to move to a new project…..Tackling one of my huge bags of tiny off cuts and hopefully making it into a very colourful creation…may just need a step ladder to reach the top of the pile ;-/ ……….

Bernard and Betty Bullfrog…for a bit of amusement, I decided to leave the ‘mouth’ as a loose movable piece of thread (secured soundly at both ends though) …so you’ll never know what little face they will make when the wind blows 😉

Moving from Quirky to Super CUTE!

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Artist and crafter, Cute creations, Felt Blue Birds, Felt bunnies, Felt Pictures, Fully lined Peg Bags, Fun with fabrics, Hand applique, Honey Bunnies Peg Bag, Love Birds Peg Bag, Novelty Peg Bag Designs, Posh Clothes Pin Bag, Posh peg pouches, unique gift ideas, Washing Line hanging Peg Bag, Wooden Buttons

Two little honey bunnies 😉

After a couple of quirky peg / clothes pin bag makes with ‘extreme wash line scenes’, I thought I’d cover all bases and throw in a couple of simpler, super cute designs too! Making good use of some lovely little buttons I bought a while back, I really like the wooden butterflies and wonder why it took me so long to start using them?!?

Little Love Birds design. Well ….Spring is in the air after all…

All hand appliqued, Fully lined, and, with a sturdy wooden hanger… perfect for little gift ideas or a treat for your own Wash Days !

More New and Exciting Peg Bag Designs

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Appliqued Peg Bags, Artist Crafter & Designer, Clothespin Bags, Colourful and Cute Peg Bags, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Felt applique pictures, Fly a Kite Peg Bag Scene, Fun with fabrics, Hand sewn designs, Original Novelty Designs, Peg bags, Posh peg pouches, Skiing Freeze Dry Peg Bag Scene, Unique Fun Cute Quirky Peg Bag Designs

Well…my thoughts were…if I can put a Desert Island Scene on a Peg/Clothespin Bag…then why not do a ‘mountainscape’ scene too 🙂

Another couple of my new Peg/Clothespin Bags. Maybe it’ll start a little trend of freeze drying laundry on the slopes :-). The other  not quite as wacky..OR is it?!! ‘Course they both seem perfectly feasible in my mind  😀

A little fly and dry option !!                                                                                                                                                 I must confess to many happy hours playing with felt during their making…takes me back to childhood ‘fuzzy felt’ days ! Now, I just draw, cut and create my own pictures  😉

Cute Quirky and Colourful Peg Bags

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Artist and crafter, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Cute Colourful Peg Bag, Desert Island Wash Day Peg Bag, Felt applique pictures, Fully Lined Posh Peg Pouches, Fun with fabrics, Hand Applique Crafty Creations, Quirky Novelty Peg Bag Designs, Speedy Drying Service, Tortoise Design Peg Bag

So many tiny little blanket stitches, but, worth the effort! One of my new Peg Bag designs 🙂

Coming up with new fun ideas for my 2017 Peg Bags designs and revisiting some past popular designs, though still different and quite unique 🙂 But most importantly, ALL Lovingly Handmade (are Fully Lined and each with a sturdy painted wooden hanger) to add a little fun to Wash Days!! Here are the first two…

Last year’s orange fashion bathing suit gives way to…. a bright cerise pink number ! ..as well as the lucky lady drying her washing on the Desert Island, trying out a new relaxing position  🙂

Taking leftover fabric to the next level…#7…Finally AND Completely!!!!!

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Artist and crafter, Brushed Cotton Flannel Fabrics, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Fun with fabrics, Ideas for using fabric remnants, Mug Rug, Patchwork creations, Patchwork needle case, Quirky pincushion, Sewing accessory set, unique gift ideas

My way of dealing with those final little snippets of fabric remnants was…Ta Dah!!….A sewing accessory set! 😉 Super for a little gift, maybe in encouragement for a new sewer, or, for a cute quirky gift for a seasoned sewer?! It’s so bright and colourful, it’s sure not to get lost on their work table!! A quilt as you go set of; A patchwork needle case, pincushion and (most important to all crafters (…in my book at least!!) …A matching Mug Rug/Coaster!!! Who can work without a constant brew by their side??

Not to be defeated by throwing away the final last few scraps from my original quilt project (which to be honest would have been very easy to do after the past few weeks of hard work) I didn’t give in!!!!!!!… and mustered up this super bright,  colourful and useful little set instead! I’m now sooooooooo super happy with all the unique little makes from such a limited amount of fabric 🙂 Quite a mission but a great achievement, by, NOT adding to my remnant fabric stash YAY 😀

Inside and reverses

A close up of the quirky pincushion (not sure what the ghost image is on the pic??;-/) by hand stitching two small squares of fabric, starting with once corner pinned to the centre of one side of the other square and working round gives a great little shape and eight little points where I added a little bead as I stitched then stuffed it firmly for many good years of use!

Enter a caption

Now…moving swiftly on.. as well as devising many ways to use all my other bagged remnants….I have my next eight projects cut and ready for their offing! One of my best sellers on my little Etsy shop has been my unique handcrafted Posh Peg Pouches, bought by people  ALL over the World !! Either, for the customer themselves, or, for a unique quirky gift to cheer up someone’s wash day! Still a few available, but more on the way….watch out for the new 2017 collection!!!!