Hand sewn embroidered heart Lavender sachet

Dear Family & Friends

Our teenage girl wanted her Japanese friend to know that she is thought of, on her special day, from as far as Bulgaria! She decided to make a handmade lavender sachet which she worked on for a few days.

Handmade Lavender sachet

Using a pink satin material, a heart shape form was prepared.

Step 1: cut material to sew a heart shape pattern

Two pieces of materials...one for the front and the other for the back.

Step 2: Make two identical form for one heart sachet pocket

She embroidered a lavender flowers for the front, and her friend's name at the back

Step 3: Before stitching it together, embroider your design 

I have gathered a lot of our home grown Lavender flowers and she used this to fill up her sachet.

Step 4: Stitch them together and leave a small gap to fill it with lavender flowers

With her patience and dedication, she hand stitch everything as neat as she could....almost as if it was done by a sewing machine...thus, it took her a while to accomplish this.

Step 6: sew up the filler hole

To embroider a tiny kanji character on, is a challenge... but she did it!

Step 7: The heart sachet is all done

The flowers are made of bullion stitches to make it resemble like lavender...I think she did well.

A nice little project that my daughter enjoyed putting together:)

Best of all, this project was made full of love for a friend who has been so kind and supportive to her in her language learning journey...a very talented blogger friend who cooks wonderful food, till she took a break to enjoy more time with her grand-babies.

Well, I'm off to go and make some lavender sachets too...they're good to put in clothes cupboards and ideal little gifts to cheer family and friends too:)

Hope you have a nice cheerful day today.

Yours

Sibling's Joy

Dear Family & Friends

Our two girls have two different personalities despite the fact that we brought them up in exact similar ways. That tells you that everyone of us are born with a very special design - not factory made!! Thus we always end up not exactly alike!

Some years ago, the older of the two girls wanted her ears pierced to wear pretty earrings. We took both girls to have it done at the same time. The younger one wanted the idea too but she had lots of fearful thoughts. She braved it but literally 'threw up' after the piercing was done...My poor child!!

homemade earring collection organizer

Yet, just after a year, the older sister who initiated the idea didn't want earrings afterall, but the younger one carried on enjoying the routine of daily coordinating her earrings with her clothing...it's just her joy and interest.

Big sister helped with this earrings organizer project for her younger sibling 

So it came to pass that all of the earrings the older sister were passed on to the younger sibling, who's just happy to collect them all. She is an organized girl (again very different from the other sister) and she wanted to keep her collection in order. With the help of the quick thinking older sister, they came up with a homemade organizer using some of the craft materials we have on hand.

Big sister got a good bargain for her little sister:) They were both joyful:)

It gives me happiness to see that despite their different character and personalities, these two sisters are always there for each other. They tend to share each other's joy and give each other every support. And this is my greatest joy as their mother who believe in teaching them daily - the values of life.

I find that whatever we sow in life, is what we will reap. So, let's keep sowing good seeds and not get tired...for soon we will reap the harvest. Happy gardening to you...whether it's in bringing up children, earning a living, or literally - sowing seeds in the garden.

Yours

two teeny weeny mice

Dear Family & Friends

Mid day is just too hot and unbearable to fiddle in the garden these days...instead, I took my crochet hook and a bit of thread and came up with two crochet mice in just a matter of minutes:) It is so 'kawaii' - CUTE - measuring just half an inch big (perhaps a little bit under)!!

The two girls loves my creation...so one of them took the little mice for photo shoot in and amongst the flowers in my garden.

The two mice visited my Hostas!

They also checked out my daylilies which are blooming everywhere...a flower a day!

Oh you won't believe it...these mice are too small that they managed to wedge in between the rose petals for a sniff!

This one managed to get into the centre of this very bright yellow flower...I don't know the name of this flower but it's bright colour is colouring our garden here and there!!

After wandering in the garden, the two mice got into my bright lime green garden reclining chair...opppss...they better move on as I intend to go back to this favourite chair to crochet a few more of these teeny weeny mice...

We're all having fun here...I hope you are too -  right where you are!

Yours

Stitching Yo Yo

Dear Family & Friends

To keep busy over this cold season, I've started another thrifty project. Been tidying up old clothes and cutting them into rounds.

With needle and thread...just stitch a running stitch around it and viola! you've got one 'yo-yo'. That's what they call it...but it looks more like a flower to me. 

I've done quite a few by now...in fact my 5 litre icecream container where I store every yo-yo sewn, whenever I get the free time is fast filling up.

From time to time, I stitch everyone of them together, in different random colours and sizes...it's looking good...perhaps I'll end up with a large table runner before spring time arrives.

What home project keeps you busy during the days when you can't do outside jobs?

Hope you are keeping inspired with everyday living:)

Yours

Our Little Joys

Dear Family & Friends

We had BBQ meal in our garden today...just  for the sake of having and hanging on to the last outdoor eating joy....but I must admit it is getting COOL out there!

Simple outdoor meal

Inside the house, although the sunlight permits in, but there seems not much heat that I don't mind basking under it's light with another thrifty sewing project of paper piecing in my hands.  

My new thrifty project: using recycled clothes to do "Shifting Cubes" paper piecing

Neighbours still pour in their apple glut...so our little girl carry on enjoying her baking sessions. She see to it that we have continuous supply of her autumn apple cakes and apple pies! No one in our house complains...and I think it is never a trouble to have delicious treats:)  

Our 12 years old girl spoils us with her goodies!

Life is simple with our little family...but it  is good, always good!

May you enjoy all the little joys with your family too!

Yours

Just What You Do In Summer

Dear Family & Friends

We're keeping busy... but I'm shying away from my garden chores these days... just too hot for me, and by late afternoon when sun's gone down, 'mossies' (mosquitoes) start coming out too....so, I have to let go of the weeds however big they want to be:!

Crocheted basket by recycling old T-shirts 

I've then went and find some of the old unfinished craft and that fills my time indoor these days. 

Sunset by the lake

The rest of us who are cyclist enthusiasts... they wait till sunsets and dash out for a quick bike ride. There's always the big lake to cycle to...not far from home...and sunset view is spectacular there.

Once the sun's gone...it's time to head back home. Tomorrow will be another new day:)

Hope you had a nice day today and a new happy tomorrow:)

Yours

Beads Bracelet

Dear Family & Friends

The previous year, my two girls wanted to make some jewelry to sell. They like the idea of making and selling things. As a mother, I took them to a craft shop and we got a lot of beads and other gadgets to set them going. Yes, they started making pretty earrings, necklaces - but they didn't have people to sell it to:(

All is not lost. I'm still happy that they learned some craft along the way. Most of the jewelries we gave out as presents to friends in the end:) But we still have a lot of beads left. Recently, they picked up the craft box once again and made a new design bracelet for a Japanese little girl whom they have been communicating with recently.

The needle used is homemade out of thin wire...as we didn't have any.

We didn't have the long very thin needle to use for this new project, but with ingenuity, they came out and made one using a thin wire. It worked just as good:)

This bead bracelet is now sent off to their Japanese girlfriend -Satski

Once again, I'm very proud of these two girls...they are creative, resourceful, and they usually work all on their own...

Don't you think this bracelet is very pretty? I've suggested a few little/young girlfriends who I think would like to have them...so, my girls are off to make some more.

Wishing you a lovely day:)

Yours

Knitted Strawberry Booties - Kawaii

Dear Family & Friends

A young Japanese lady who holds a full time job, newly wed, and soon to-be-a-mother, yet, was happy and patient to write e-mails back and forth to my little girl whose desire is to practice her Japanese reading and writing skill further. So, when we heard that she's having a baby girl soon, my two girls decided to knit this strawberry baby booties for her baby! 

Strawberry baby booties - kawaii no ichigo booties!

Don't you think they are so cute? I'm so proud of my two daughters...they are good in knitting...they can read abbreviated patterns which I am hopeless at! Although I'm good at crochet, they are better in knitting!

A heart shape strawberry

The booties was inspired by the strawberry season and was knitted with love. This year is our first year to really enjoy strawberries from the garden. The two girls enjoy going out in the garden for fruit snacking!

Red rose quadruplets

The garden is just full of flowers of different sort. I love our red roses and it's also our first year to really enjoy the abundance of rose blooms.

Poppies are blooming in the garden..bees love them too:)

Another first timer in our garden is the poppie flowers. The blooms don't last very long but I've always wanted to grow them. Now that we got them, they will just self seed every year.

Looks like all the photos posted today are mainly red in colour:)  I should have also include a photo of the red geranium...but perhaps that will be for next time.

Hope you have a bright brilliant happy day today:)

Yours

Projects Done

Dear Family & Friends

For months and months, I've worked on this crochet project whenever I get the free time. I've enjoyed it a lot. It is another of my frugal project. Not a single penny was spent on it because it was an old cardigan of the girls that won't fit them anymore. I really like the cotton cream thread, so I undid and retrived the five strand-thread and crocheted each separated strand of thin thread for this project!

The frugal crochet project is done

Crochet is an activity that I find so restful for my mind...a de-stressing exercise. As I finished using up all the thread, the size of my project had to end too. ...oh... a bit sad for me...but, I will find another one to work on later. 

My favourite crochet design project to date

Perhaps not everyone can crochet or enjoy crocheting...but I know we all have this creative aspect within all of us... The recent easter celebration proved once again that every grandmothers/mothers in our village, are all gifted in decorating easter eggs. We received quite a few boiled eggs painted and decorated in various ways...all very beautiful! I'm too impatient to do this kind of craft, not even for my children.

A few of the many creatively decorated easter eggs the girls received this year.

So, I wish you a beautiful and creative day today.

Yours

Home-made Cards

Dear Family & Friends

I must show you some of the home made cards the two girls had been doing. In Bulgaria, it's not easy to find nice greeting cards to send to family & friends. So, we always make our own personalized cards...it's more meaningful too:)

Home made cards on the making

After all, my two girls also enjoy being creative:) Both of them share this artistic talents...well, they more or less shares the same interest whether it be language, eating, fun time etc..., although both have different characters of their own.

One of the two artists  we have  - at work

When our little girl sent a thank you card to our friend for the birthday present she received, our friend asked if the girls could make some cards that she would buy. What?! Enjoy making cards and get paid for it too?? The girls took no hesitation and immediately start working on it:)

A selection of home made cards ordered and paid for 

They came up with several homemade cards to choose from.....

Mainly watercolour painted cards....a few done with coloured pens and pencils...

Bright and colourful cards to bring good cheers

Our friend kindly bought all of the cards from them....the two girls were extremely happy and inspired. Thank you Kathy for that...they felt so blessed:)

There's always joy around us here...and we count all our blessings each day. Hope you stay and have many blessings to count too:)

Yours

Failed Crochet Idea

Dear Family & Friends

I've been doing a few crochet squares which gave me a few challenges...yes, I like crocheting various complicated designs...but what to do with so many crochet squares? That's when I thought that I could piece them together like a patchwork quilt.

My failed crochet squares made for a quilt patchwork idea:(

Only to realize, that actually it didn't measure up as nice as I thought it would be. So, I undid all crochet squares and started another new crochet project instead.

a glimps of my ongoing flower lace crochet. Don't you think it matches the flower cupcakes?

I've started a pretty lacey design and am still working on it...it's getting bigger by the day...so perhaps if I don't get fed up...it will turn into a nice table cloth or bed drape?? I hope I could finish this before my gardening chore calls me soon.

Hope you are having a good fun working on the task you're given too:)

Yours

Crocheted Lampshade

Dear Family & Friends

Sometime ago, I shared with you a big crochet doiley made for a friend with the intention of turning it into a lamp shade. Well, recently, I found myself at their home and caught sight of the lit lampshade. So, I couldn't resist taking some photo of it to show you.

I also examined how she creatively shaped it into a bowl shape. I understand she starched it well and draped it over a bowl till it dried up.

Afterwards, she lined and stitched a net clothing underneath.

The cherry top of the lampshade is actually a ping pong ball which she cleverly painted to match the wooden stand.

If I have an old lampshade stand in need of a shade, I would definitely like to try a project like this one. The light that shines through the lacey shade just gives the room a lovely cosy feel:)

If my clever friend happens to read this post... please know that we were at your home while you weren't around and I've evidently enjoyed your artwork ;P

Yours

Like a Rose

Dear Family & Friends

If there's nothing else, I can't deny that we are truly blessed with the abundance of tomatoes! We eat it, we preserve it for future use, we give it away... and my little girl got the opportunity to put her artistic mark on it too.

A Tomato Rose!

Along with basil and chives from the garden, this picture was created on a plate.

And Yes, she ate the artwork afterwards too:)

I like her creativity...and she remembered to take the photo for me...that explains why the napkin is back to front in some of the shots...but as she's my daughter...I still think it is: picture perfect!

Hoping your day is as beautiful as this tomato rose, if not, even better! Be blessed!

Yours