Winner - over 3000 facebook likers !

Wahhoo I have now got to over 3000 likers on my facebook page! Now a lot of this was due to hard work but I also had a lot of help from my lovely facebook likers sharing my page.  Thanks to you all.

The winner of either a brooch or a hairclip holder is ....................... Karen S (twannywun)!  Please send me an e-mail with your choice of gift and your address x

Thanks so much to all of you, I really wish I had the time to send you all something :-(

Halloween Fun

Just a quick blog post to share this little tutorial I did for my facebook page - I hope you enjoy it :-)

Make sure you keep an eye on these if using tea lights to make sure they do not melt the milk bottle or you could use battery operated little lights in them for peace of mind.  It is best they are put outside to keep the bottle cool.

New Member of the Family .....

The Sweetpeas have a new member of the family who I would like to introduce, meet Katie the T2 Camper.  Whilst the children had their Summer holidays we came across an advert for Katie and she was located not too far from us so we decided to take a look at her.  We travelled to her location with a friend who already owns a vintage camper to see if she was in good enough condition to buy, well it turns out she was :-)

Katie on her trip to her new home.

We have wanted one for some time but when it came to saying yes to buying her I felt a cold sweat running over me.  Since I was 19 we had only ever bought what we needed and not any big items that we wanted, unless something broke we would never replace it - we still have the pops and pans we were given when we married 15 years ago, yes some have missing lid handles but why replace them if they work?  We still have a 'big' tv in our bedroom, it still works so why buy a flat screen one .... you get the picture lol.  This made it very hard to buy something just because ..... just because we wanted to .... just because it would make us happy ...... just for fun!

Mr Sweetpea explained that she would be a good investment and that swayed me :-)  Ohhh am I glad he talked me round. She has been nothing but a joy to have so far ..... the Sweetpeas adore her.

Little Sweetpea loves seeing her when we get home and riding in her - obviously I had to make a retro Ele just to keep in Katie the Camper out of 1970s fabric to match her age.

They have all had dinner in her and picnics ......

She has taken us to Old Hunstanton beach with my crochet in the back :-)

Three generations of the men in my family have had many a happy minute laying looking at her from underneath ....... yep I don't know what they are looking at either but they seemed happy :-)

And best of all she makes us smile and everyone we drive past smiles at her too - oohhh and we get some fantastic waves from fellow camper owners.

Yes I did feel sick for about a week after buying her at the thought of spending all that money.  Yes I did feel sad taking her away from her previous owner (who looked on sadly as we drove away in her which made me have a few tears) and his partner, 4 yr old son and dog (the dog got so excited when we got her out to look at as he thought he was off to the beach and the son made friends with our little girl and wondered why we were taking the Camper away :-() but I hope we will do them proud looking after her and I am sure she is a good investment.  I am so glad Mr Sweetpea talked me into buying her afterall ...........

PS thanks so much for all your comments on my last blog post, little Sweetpea is settling into school well and I am now getting used to her being away from me too.  I still miss our time together and am coming to terms with her overtired tantrums due to being at school (she is throwing a tantrum as I type !) but I know we all have to move on with our lives :-(

The time has come ...

Well the time has come, I can't stop the clock, I can't turn back time, I must accept that life moves forward (sometimes at breakneck speed!).  When little Sweetpea was born nearly 5 years ago I felt like I had all the time in the world with her.

I was lucky to be able to stay at home with her all week and find a job when Daddy was at home to look after the Sweetpeas.  I was very lucky that she was a very easy going little toddler (we will forget the colicy days and later temper tantrums :-)), this was a blessing but then again not so as it has made it that much harder to let her go.  Sometimes I feel I know her more than I know myself.

We have both had to say goodbye to the groups we attended together  (we won't mention me gatecrashing them with no child in tow :-)).

She started Ception (Reception) class in school a few weeks back, firstly half days for two weeks - that wasn't too bad.  She then went to full time last week .... oh how I miss her! 

 

 

I miss our weekly food shop together, I miss her getting excited about going to Music Hayhem (really called Music Mayhem) and Little Lambs, I miss her knitting (or really sewing) with me, I even miss her photo bombing my photographic shots.  Don't get me wrong, I did feel the need for 'me' time but I don't need this much 'me' time .....

She is loving going to school and I know I am lucky to have had her at home for nearly 5 years.  I know I will adapt to this change but it will take time ...... 

Creative Update ....

Well, I am off work ill today due a lovely virus, it not only made me sick but left me feeling like I had been hit by a cricket ball all over - lovely.   They always come just in time for the school hols these bugs don't they!    To make myself feel better I thought I would post a blog about my recent creativity :-)

Since learning to crochet and how to use my sewing machine I have had such a lovely creative journey.   I have made lots of new creative friends and really do feel a sense of calm when I can sit and create something I love.

Here are a few of my recent makes:

These elephants really do make me smile when I make them, I especially love creating them from vintage fabric.  The one right at the top of the blog is created in a lovely vintage Sanderson Pippa fabric (and she is mine ALL MINE :-)), I so wish I could find some more of that fabric, it was such a lovely fabric to work with.   I have worked out (with the help of a lovely creative friend) how to add names to ribbon which adds a lovely touch, it makes these elephants even more personal :-)

Since learning to crochet last year I have really enjoyed trying out different patterns.  Whilst on my last holiday I set about creating a rose, to my astonishment it worked!  I was so happy with the result and so surprised that I had worked out how to create it.  I turned them into rose brooches and made some leaves out of a felted green woolen scarf, the two textures and colours work so well together.  I also made the school teachers some crochet cup coasters as part of their leaving gifts from the children, I backed them with felt to make them feel sturdy.  In that photo you can also see a birdy created by the lovely Linen Cat and a gorgeous cup that I found in TK Maxx)

I recently created some cute little crochet flowers too, not sure what to do with them I decided to make them into a garland for little Sweetpea & middle Sweetpea's room.  I added some crochet leaves to each end of it - another crochet learning curve :-)    Of course there had to be some felt creations in my creative mix, I have been making some more of the popular rose hairbands and daisy clips (which are now my signature piece :-)).

oohhh I have made cakes too, crafting get togethers (well in fact, any get togethers) aren't as much without cakes being involved :-)

Now before I got I wanted to share with you a lovely, lovely, oh so lovely gift that arrived in the post for me a couple of months back.  The gorgeous creator of the MuffinPies dolls, Monique at Blueberries in the Fields sent me my very own MuffinPie!  How generous and sweet hearted she is, she knows I love her creations and after buying the children their own MuffinPies I longed that one day I would own my very own so I was so touched when Monique posted me one to live here.  She is settling in well with my retro elephant as you can see :-)  Thanks again you gorgeous person Monique xxxx

Take care
Zoe x

Having a little giveaway ....

Just a quick blog post sorry, I have been busy building up my facebook page and now have around 2100 likers.  I want to get to 3000 by September so have offered a giveaway of one of the above when I get to that number (the winner can choose which they would prefer - one is a hairclip holder and the other is a crochet rose brooch). 

Now as I am in the mood to share the love I have decided to share the giveaway here too for my loyal blog followers :-)  If you want to be in with a chance to win then just comment here and if you would like to share my facebook page or blog then that would be lovely :-)

If you haven't been to my facebook page and are on there do pop over and say hi, I would love to see you there :-)  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scented-Sweetpeas/120450814687153

Travelling Craft Box

Being the bad blogger that I am at the moment this blog post is way overdue!  Some time ago I signed up to take part in LaaLaa's Travelling Craft Box.  Basically you get sent a box full of creative delights, you pick which items you like and then add that many items back into the box.

Well  back in mid-June the lovely Pretty Little Jewels posted the box on to me.  I was amazed how quickly it arrived from hers to be honest as she had just got married and had been on honeymoon too.  Goodness knows how she fitted time in to post this off (pop over to her blog for some very heart warming photos of her wedding and some lovely inspirational wedding ideas). 

When this large box arrived in the post I found this lovely little parcel just for me :-)  The lovely Jewel had popped in a fab book on creating cushions which I can't wait to use when the kiddies go back to school, some lip balm and some lovely clay decorations.  Thanks so much Jewel x

Now I can't show you what I popped in the box and forgot to take photos of what I took out - fab blogger moment again there :-)  I took out some lovely pink polka dot buttons, some sequin thread and a lovely hand made bracelet created with felt and beads.  I then promptly posted the box off to Scratchy Cat Crafter so hoepfully she will blog about it soon x