My Lucky Dip Life!

  If you're anything like me, you might find yourself unprepared when the "real" winter strikes!  Here in the Netherlands we've had a really mild winter so far, we haven't even needed scarves and hats unless we've been outdoors for a while.  As a result, I haven't bought all the kit that goes with really cold weather like we've been experiencing, and if I'm honest, I don't see myself going out and buying waterproof ski clothing for a few days of snow!  As it is the girls would much rather be indoors with a mug of hot cocoa - they must have inherited their dislike of the cold from their parents!   Now we've had snow, and quite a bit of it....it's been hanging round for days and out of the blue my 6 year old tells me she hasn't taken part in any snowball fights at school because her gloves would get wet, leading to extra cold fingers.  Oops!  Bad Mummy Moment! Finding myself in a predicament I put the ol' thinking cap ...

    I wish my heading sounded prettier and more magical, because these beautiful spheres made by filling balloons with water and then leaving them out to freeze certainly have a fairytale appeal about them. I've had this idea Pinned for quite a while and just needed the right conditions to try it out.  This week we've had a lovely cold snap with snow and temperatures going well below zero.  PERFECT conditions I tell you! All I had was a picture to go by... and I really had a DUH moment  when I began.  There I was with balloon in hand, ready at the tap, when it dawned on me that coloured water did not flow from the faucet and how was I going to get colour in there?!? Just shows how lazy I've become...did I give it a moment's thought?  Noooooo, off I rushed to the WWW to find out the answer, which was blindingly simple!  Add a drop of food colour to the balloon before  you fill it up!  Sigh.  Sometimes... When they were ...

OK, I know I really should have shared this before Christmas but no sooner had I finished them than the Day was upon me and I had some kind of very odd 'flu' which left me with a fever on and off for days... in fact I fell asleep on the couch on Christmas morning and the lovely husband only woke me at 1pm.....with a whole Christmas "lunch" still to cook!  Guess I must have needed it though. And then there was work.  Yes indeed!  After the jolly holiday we set to work on my sewing room..... which never quite got completed as we went away for a few days over Old and New (quaint Dutch way of saying New Year's - I quite like it!) ... et cetera, et cetera.  But it is certain to be finished in the very near future and then I can reveal...... NOW, back to Gingerbread Houses. Nearly 2 years ago I made a choice to give up sugar (amongst other things).  It is the best thing I ever did but it left me with a small problem.  I LOVE making and decorating kids...

A few weeks ago I was busy crocheting this scarf... and here is the end result! I love it - I really do!  A perfect match for the Urban Jungle beanie I made a few weeks ago...  I didn't use a pattern for this scarf, just sort of made it up as I went along.  You know, I'm still learning but if you fancy having a go at this scarf yourself, this is what I did.  Not a pattern exactly because I suspect if you make this you'll have a basic idea of how to go about doing it and I'm not exactly at the point of writing up a pattern. The Blue Scarf Abbreviations: dc  Double Crochet hdc  Half Double Crochet Puff Stitch Chain.  As many as you like to get the length you want. 1st row dc, turn. then 5 rows hdc, turn. then 1 row dc, turn. 2 rows hdc turn. 3 rows of puff stitch. then do everything a mirror of what you just did before the puff stitch... so: 2 rows hdc 1 row dc 5 rows hdc 1 row dc to finish Then I se...

If you're a blog hopper like me, you come across the most gorgeous creative work spaces imaginable.  Perfectly organised, colour co-ordinated, cosy, warm, inviting and clearly a space where a lot of wonderful stuff is created.   Depressing really.  Especially when you have a work space like I do. OK, I know I shouldn't grumble, at least I have a work space and don't have to share the dining table as a lot of craftsters have to.  But my little room also tends to double up as the "junk room."  Do you have one of those spaces?  The place where all things without a home (and with vague craft associations) end up? Don't know where that goes?  Never mind, just dump it in "mamma's sewing room." Well if you're anything like me, I wanted to share a few (OK several) pictures of my creative space so you can take heart... not all creative people have fabulous, designer-home craft rooms!  Well I hope to goodness I'm not the only one in the wor...