Sewing central. A gift for my son.

It has been sewing central here at the Hazel and Blue household over the last few days. The lovely Saints and Pinners fabric I brought just before Christmas has been sitting and waiting patiently whilst I have been busy with other things.
The beautiful colours finally won over and I had to make something with them.

I wanted to sew something for my Son. It needed to be boy-like and not too girlie, (as he is going through a phase of resisting anything pink.) I decided to make a pencil case, using the brown and blue fabric, madly hoping this would appeal to his taste. Although I suspect if I covered it with Ben 10 and footballs this would be more up his street!

                                       
I love sewing Zips on to fabric and I have found a really easy way to do this using the Zipper foot, and clever maneuvering of the zip when sewing on to the fabric. I love the fabric in the lining of this case!

                                    


Being a fair Mum, I could not make one for one and not the other, so I made this lovely pouch for my youngest, using this beautiful soft cord material, found at my local haberdashery.

                            I could not resist adding a pink satin ribbon on the cord handle!

I have such joy when making these for the children. I have a tendency to sneakily take them off the children and display them on my wooden console table in the sewing room and look at them lovingly for days!

I suppose its the appreciation of the work and love that goes into making them.

PS By the way they both loved the gifts. The Pencil case even got a smile!

Just a quick note to say thank you for all your lovely comments recently, they can really make my day and I appreciate each and every one of them!
Bx

#Silent Sunday: Good work guys!

                                                      

                                                           

Knit Sew Love

There has been a noticeable lack of craft recently in the Hazel and Blue household, and to be honest I have been feeling a bit lost with out it,  so this week I have been making up for lost time!
I have been inspired recently to start knitting again, having brought some yarn recently from the charity shop. But after sitting down and knitting a few rows, I then decided that I need a pattern to follow. So I went browsing at the Charity shops again last weekend. I was delighted to find some very old knitting patterns and embroidery sketches to work from:

I found this fantastic little Swiss 1965 Knitting pattern magazine/book, full of beautiful designs and knits

I love this knitting pattern and the photo of the girl holding her Teddy is adorable.


I also found these retro 1960's knitting patterns and the most fantastic 1960's embroidery pamphlet with tiny transfers inside.
The Man in the shop said they had been in the shop for years hidden away in a Grey A4 ring binder.

With all these to inspire me I decided to do some craft with my little girl, she has been asking me for weeks to join in. She decided she would like to make a flower. We used this flowery fabric some wadding and lavender inside and a pretty pink ribbon to hang it with.

She was so good at hand sewing and she was very pleased to tell me, that 'Mummy, see I can do it'! (I previously been worried she would pierce her little fingers with the needle- doh!)

So with after doing the above with my girl, it inspired me to finally dust of my sewing machine and start sewing again. I decided to make little Lavender bags filled with dried Lavender, essential oil and wadding.

I do feel much better now and I have already had a start at making some hair accessories using wool and ribbon.

I love this saying:  Knit, Sew,Love. I am embracing my creative side this week and I am really enjoying it!

Becky
xx

Music I want my children to listen to...HRH

I am delighted to host this weeks 'Music I want my children to listen too. After the success of last weeks post from the lovely Ghostwritermummy and Alexanderresidence and many many lovely others joining in.

I have decided this week to ask my OH what he would like our children to listen too, and his first choice was the 'Rolling Stones'. I am not too familiar with the Iconic Rolling Stones, so we moved to ....

 this Great British rock band

Queen are the ultimate British rock band, thrashing out songs with fantastic scores, exquisite voices, and beautiful lyrics. I have found the more I listen to Queen, the more respect I have for this great band.

In fact I might go even as far as to say this song below could be in my top 20 songs of all time,

This is such a catchy uplifting fun song - My 4 year old loves it and is twirling and whirling to it as I write this!

                                          "Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time"!

                                                          It comes from this album 'Jazz'.

My OH favourite Queen album is 'The Game' with notable songs such as 'Another one bites the dust' and 'Crazy little thing called love'

Queen have been heavily influenced by new bands such as

Nirvana

Ben folds five

Keane

Robbie Williams

Radiohead

The Killers

Very impressive stats!

What I like about Queen is that, their songs are timeless and after all this time can still get me tapping my feet!

The mixture of rock, and the link to different genres such as ragtime, opera (Still enjoy the 'Barcelona' song from the Olypmics), gospel and folk are what make Queen, The music I would like my 'Children to listen to!

Do you have any music/albums you would like your children to listen to? Please come and join us on this muscial journey. Just attach your post to the link below and join in!

Here the link.......

Knitting love - 7 Things you don't know about me.

This week whilst I was drooling over some exquisite Hand dyed NZ wool over at Knitsch, I had the sudden urge to start knitting again.

 As you may know from a previous post, I started knitting early last year and it all ended badly. The kitten would chase the yarn, the children thought the wool would make a great object to play with and I could not read the knitting pattern, I had brought.
So this time, rather than buying all new kit again,  I walked into my local charity shop, found two beautiful lemon yarn balls for 50p (25cents) and 2 sets of knitting needles, and began knitting that night. I think this is going to be a scarf for my little girl.

                                                 

This week, I have also been lucky enough to be asked to write 7 things you don't know about me from three lovely people, Michelle at Mummy from the heart, SAHMandlovingit, and OhMammy, thank you very much for tagging me!

1. My Daughters Middle name is 'Arwen'  from the novel 'Lord of the Rings'- My OH is a long life fan and this is his favourite book of all time. The Trilogy seems to have followed us throughout our Marriage, we used a reading from the book in our Wedding ceremony, and even went to the Opening Movie in Wellington NZ back in 2001 at the Embassy Theatre. NB (Luckily my Son did not follow suit and did not get the Middle name's Frodo or Bilbo! )

2. I was travelling on the day of September 11th when NYC was attacked. I was actually on the Euro star to Disneyland Paris - and I was so scared they were going to attack us in Disneyland! Lots of armed policemen hanging around when we were there, but all ok in the end.

3. I have a OCD addiction with hand cream. I use hand cream every day, and I cannot leave the house with out some. My current favourite I am using at the moment is the Soap and Glory hand cream - smells divine.

4. I play the piano- not very well, but I have recently started lessons again and have been having piano lessons with a local teacher for about a year now.

5. I love Edward of 'Twilight' I am slightly infatuated with him. I have all the DVDs and books, but I haven't quite stretched to his poster as yet.

6. I appeared on a NZ Children's TV programme when I was little 'What Now' and did the Milo wacky challenge, I remember getting the phone call on Live TV Saturday morning and doing cart wheels around the lounge, because I was sooo excited.

7. I have freckles .... faded now- but in the summer they can come back with vengeance. I slather myself with Sun tan lotion and cover my face with Sunglasses and a Hat. I've learnt to love my freckles, and remind my self that they are a sign of youth. Or as my Grandmother used to say to me 'they are gift's from God'.


As well as starting knitting again, I have dusted off my sewing machine this week, and I plan to start sewing again this weekend. I will post my projects with photos very soon.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Becky
xx

Music I want my children to listen to.....

Music is such a personal thing. I remember when I was 13 and I had some pocket money to spend on a cass 'single'. I walked into our local mall and asked the lady at the music store which cass 'single' should I buy? She said I can't answer that, you need to choose- music is so personal. I remember feeling a bit silly at the time, but now I appreciate what she was saying. One person's ear is different to another's.

Having rolled down memory 'music' lane with the lovely Suzanne at Ghost writer Mummy and the lovely Alexander Residence on Twitter, Suzanne had a great idea, why don't we all do a post based on the Music we want our children to love.. yah hay absolutely!

With so many choices to choose from- I have decided to start with the poetic sound of John Martyn.



                                                                      


His music is beautiful, he sings with soul, and his songs have real meaning. As quoted in John Martyn's website 'In a world that lacks compassion, John Martyn and his music, is a breath of fresh air. John is an incurable romantic who sings from his heart; no other artist sings with such commitment and emotion'

 

John Martyn reminds me of the time when I first came to England in 1997- I was introduced to him, by my mother and found his songs, very soothing and poetic. I devoured his albums and even went as far as borrowing a Music Video tape of one of his concerts. One song remains with me to this day.. having played it for years and in particular when both my two children where born "May you never".
This is a beautiful song and always makes me teary, when I listen to it,

May you never lay your head down
Without a hand to hold
May you never make your bed out in the cold

This post has conjured up lost songs and memories I had forgotten. That is what I love about music, it can hold memories,times and places. It can take you to that exact moment....the time you meet your OH, the time your baby was born, the first album you ever bought. I hope my children find the time to listen to this music, but I will never force them, music is a journey.


Take a look at Suzanne and Alexander Residence music posts (as above) to see our eclectic tastes. 'Our not so known music tastes'! Why not join in?

Becky
xx

Home sweet home - 3 Reasons to be Cheerful

I love this idea of writing Three reasons to be cheerful, thank you to the lovely Michelle for this great link. This is a great way to remind ourselves of what we have, and to appreciate it everyday.

4 and half years ago we moved back to New Zealand (lock stock and barrel), English Husband, 2 year old and a 5 week old baby! What an adventure we had - we learnt so many things about what we wanted in our lives, and had a great time catching up with all my family and friends in New Zealand, but what I did not anticipate, was how much I missed the UK, hence we made our decision to settle permanently in England. This is another story and I will write about it one day very soon. Since that time it has made me so grateful for everything we have as a family, including one of my reasons to be cheerful for this week:

1. A Home
I am so grateful, that I have a lovely home, which I feel safe in and I am able to express myself in. Having lived in so many different homes in the year we lived in New Zealand - rental, family, owned it is so nice to be settled again. I am grateful everyday for the home we live in now. We brought the first house we viewed, and we have never regretted it! We do not plan to move for a very long time.

2. Seasons

I am grateful for the seasons. Nature is a wonderful thing, and I marvel everyday at what Mother nature gives us. Whether it is snow, grass, leaves, sun, wind flowers, rainbows,trees... its all very magical, and this makes me cheerful.

3. Cakes

These make me most cheerful. Any cakes, I do not mind. Carrot cake, chocolate cake, flour less almond cake, banana cake, Hummingbird pineapple cake, ginger cake... ooh yum yum. This is most appreciated with a nice cup of coffee or tea.


I am enjoying this weekly link, it really does cheer me up!

Becky xx

Giveaway - Hazel and Blue Purse and beautiful ribbon

I have been sorting out my sewing boxes and bowls of ribbons and in so doing, I have realised that I have quite a lot of beautiful ribbons in stock. Ribbons are so versatile and can be used in so many different ways. For example here are five quick ideas:

1. Sewing projects
2. Bunting
3. Card making
4. Wrapping presents
5. Hair bow ties

I have also had some lovely comments about my little hand sewn pretty coin purses I make.
So I have had a brain wave and decided to have my first ever Giveaway! To thank all my readers, new and loyal for their loveliness. Up for grabs is a pretty Handmade purse made by me, made with Amy Butler material and pretty pink gingham inside. As well as (hold your breath) 1 metre of any spool of  ribbon you see in the photo below. Yes any one you like. You can choose : Pink, red, striped, dotty, satin or grosgrain.

The pretty coin purses are really useful, I have one and my little girl has one which she puts her pretty hair clips in, or they would make a great little gift. I will be offering  free postage and packaging to all entrants.
and I will send anywhere in the world (New Zealand included!).


If you would like to enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on my blog, telling me what you would do with your ribbon.

Please feel free to share with other fellow blog people or Tweeters!

Closing date will be Sunday 30th January at 12 noon GMT.

I will pick a entry from one of the comments given (most likely be out of a hat with Little girl and Older boy helping!) Please check back here, after this date to see if you have won. Once the winner sends me their address ( and choice of ribbon) I will post the next available day and the winner can enjoy them!

Becky
xx

Congratulations to Sew Scumptious! You are the winner of the Hazel and Blue giveaway! Please let me know which ribbon you would like? and let me know your address.

Battle of the Blogger Butts challenge - (No truely)

I am on a diet. But to tell you the honest truth, I am making it up as I go along. I am calling it the 'Becky diet', which means I can eat a chocolate brownie when I want to, so then I do not feel guilty. I might walk a bit more and try and run up and down the stairs a bit more, but other than that I have no exercise plan. So I have set myself two challenges, the first one is to run the local town 2km fun run in May. This is exciting, as I know I could do this with a bit of training. A few years ago, I completed the Race for life for Breast Cancer and managed to raise a far bit of money, have a great day out and felt exhilarated afterwards. The 2km run will be a step up from this, but I am going to give it my best, and also now I have officially told everyone..there is no backing out!
The second one is joining in on the 'Battle of the Blogger Butts' organised by the lovely Farmers wifey , who has kindly suggested that I join them in the great 'Battle of the Blogger Butts' (yes truly) basically the challenge is losing 5 % of your body weight but you can challenge yourself to lose more or less....the idea is to get fitter, healthier and happier!  A great way for lovely people to support each other and help shift a few pounds.
So yes I am always up for a challenge. First thing I have to do is weigh myself, and that in itself is tricky, as I have not weighed myself for about 18months (in denial). Dust of my running shoes and brace myself.

I will let you know my progress over the weeks, but for tonight it is business as usual, Meringues with Vanilla Madagascan cream and blueberries. Tomorrow is another day.

Becky
xx
If you fancy joining in, go over to Farmers wifey site and join in!

Happy post - 3 Reasons to be cheerful!

This is a happy post, sometimes it is good to remind ourselves, how lucky we are. Especially during January, when all the excitement of Christmas has finished and here in the UK, we still have a few months of the Winter season to come. It is can be cold, dreary and miserable!
The lovely Michelle at 'Mummy from the heart' has come up with a great idea, and has asked people to write three reasons to be cheerful. This is good timing, so with happiness in my heart, here our my three reason to be cheerful:

1. My Children and Husband are healthy and Happy!
This is truly never to be taken for granted, I treasure the above every day and I never take it for granted.I know of many people, who have suffered, or lost someone, or who are going through there own personal pain, that I am very grateful for the health and happiness of my dear,cherished family.

2. We have Good neighbours
No truly, this make me me very cheerful. I am not sure why, but ever since I have known my Husband, we have had the most awful neighbours. The first neighbours we ever had, used to bicker and slam doors, the second neighbours we had, used to play loud music every night till 1am in the morning (even though they had children) the third lot of neighbours we had, unfortunately liked far to many pints and used to keep us up when he wandered back from the pub in the evening most nights.Our current neighbour's, are just great! they are lovely people and similar to us-happy and living a family life. I am so grateful of this every day.

3. Puddings
This makes me cheerful. I love puddings and I could eat them every day of the week, if I could! Chocolate pudding, meringues and cream, bread and butter pudding, vanilla ice cream, chocolate cheesecake...the list could go on. Tonight we are having fresh fruit and ice cream yum yum! (yogurt for me, January diet!)Bless the person, who discovered puddings.

So, just a quick list of my three reasons to be cheerful. Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves of all the things we have! This is one of my favourite quotes and sums it up nicely

                                           'Life is not about things, it is about Us'

Love this quote. Have a lovely weekend!

Becky xx

Short list of things to do instantly in 2011

After the excitement over the last few weeks, and the children safely settled back into school. The time has come to plan some projects for this year. I have so many thoughts, and a lot of inspiration from other lovely people in the blog world, that it is very difficult to decide what to do! Craft is never far from my mind and I would like to learn a new one, but which one? I did have a phase of doing knitting for awhile, I even brought some brand new needles and pink wool.. but I'm afraid the phase only lasted a few weeks, hence I have figured out I am definitely a instant person. Instant in that if I cannot see a result, or finished item, my attention span is diminished and I tend to give up! I started knitting a scarf and ended up with a 10cm row of fluff (which our lovely family cat then destroyed). I suppose hat is why I love sewing, you can have instant results in a relatively short time. I think I need to mull this over.

So while I am contemplating the bigger projects, I have put together a relatively short list of my 2011 instant things to do:

1. Follow Louis Spence on twitter (I love him!)

2. Start running again (instant get fit activity) or walk fast which ever is easier

3. Say Hello to people at the school run, who I don't normally say hello too. (some mornings this can be a real effort)

4. Do not wear my track bottoms on the school run unless I am exercising - which to be honest is not often.

5. Keep reading more books. (Am reading The girl with the dragon tattoo - amazing)

6. Hoover/Vacuum upstairs, out of sight, out of mind.

7. Water house plant ( I only have 1 left as I have managed to kill all the others)

8. Stop spending hours looking for grey hairs on my head and becoming obsessed that It's all downhill.

9. Get a manicure and pedicure, there comes a point when you have to look after Nm1.

10. 1 to 1 with the children... trips to the shops and hot chocolate in a cafe with little Nm2 and bike riding and football/soccer with Mister Nm 1.

Actually I am getting quite excited about my last goal, I will have to arrange that asap, maybe this weekend.
Thank you for all your lovely comments recently, I am also so pleased to have some new followers here at Hazel and Blue, I am very lucky!

What are your 2011 plans? Any wishes or things to do? I would love to know!

Becky xx