I love Hearts!

There has been a distinct heart theme round here lately, firstly I have been very busy making these little hearts which I sell in my shop. Although we are primarily a curtain and blind shop, being by the coast, there are naturally a lot of tourists, especially in the Summertime. Whilst we don't have much to offer visitors in the way of souvenirs, I do like to make up a few bits which sell really well in the holiday season.

Secondly there has been the heart swap, and my swap partner was Gemma from Deravelled - I received some lovely goodies including some lovely cards which Gemma had made and some charms and stickers so I can make some of my own - there was also some lovely smelling soap slices and the pretty black and white handmade heart you can see in the picture,

Thank you Gemma - I love everything!
I have a busy week ahead, It is my eldest son's birthday on Thursday (he will be 11) and it is also my last full week at work before I have some nice time off around Easter - I have lots I want to do, things to make, books I want to read and places I want to go - I love Easter time and can't wait
Natalie x

Mothers Day

I had a lovely weekend and in particular a lovely Sunday, which was Mothering Sunday here in the UK. Some lovely choccies (which were gone before lunchtime) - and later a trip into York, where I was treat to a pair of lovely Cath Kidston pillowcases. I had got my eye on the CK 'pins' & 'buttons' tins and the boys raced into the shop clutching their saved up pocket money, but they had sold out! - Oh well, it will just be another excuse to return!
Later on in the afternoon we went to Frankie & Bennys which is one of our favourite places to eat out as a family - & I even treat myself to the chocolate orange profriteroles for afters! - Yes it was a lovely weekend and I was spoilt rotten. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend whether you are a mummy, or an Aunty or a Grandma.
I have been busy making things to sell in my shop and of course busy doing more crochet - but more about that later in the week
Take care everyone!
P.S - As you can see, the children had a good time too, although none of them would co-operate for the photo - probably because they knew it would end up on here!!

Pretty things

Just wanted to show you this delightful tin I picked up this week at a lovely little shop in Scarborough. Thankfully we don't have much call for first aid supplies in this house, but I daresay that might change when the weather warms up and the little ones get out and about on their bikes a bit more! - I think it will look lovely on my kitchen shelf to hold my collection of barbie plasters, cotton wool and TCP!

Secondly, here is a photo of the goodies ready to send off to Gemma of Deravelled for the heart swap organised by mollycupcakes - Goodness knows how I have managed to be so organised, that I have them wrapped and ready to send a week early! - I even found another use for one of my crocheted flowers, can you see it there adorning the gift tag? - I am enjoying this week, it has been very busy with work, the shop, parents evenings and all the usual housey stuff but the lovely Spring weather has put a Spring in my step! - Hope you are all enjoying your week - Natalie x

Loving to crochet

I am just loving crochet at the moment, and inspired by similar cushions made by Julia and Jane I decided to make one of my own, and I am just loving it! - It is so nice to start a project and see it through to completion, especially since I have recently taught myself to crochet and six months ago, didn't even know how to hold a hook!
In the background is the granny blanket I started in the summer, and I am hoping this photo will guilt trip me into sorting it out - typical of me, I thought I could take short cuts and didn't bother to block the pieces, but now I have decided I must take apart the pieces I have stitched together so far, block them and then crochet them together.
Here is proof that I blocked my circular cushion

It really does give a better finished result and I am now planning on making some more of these cushions to display (and hopefully sell) in my next shop window display which will be in shades of dusky pink and mink.
Almost forgot there about my one year giveaway - I put the names in a hat (well, actually a bowl) and the name the little hand pulled out was English Teacup, so congratulations and hopefully I will get a little parcel of goodies off to you in the next couple of weeks.
Next on the 'to do' list is working on the heart swap, I have been paired with Gemma and I can't wait to see what heart shaped lovlies she sends me - I love receiving things in the post! - Anyway hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and enjoying the mild spring weather
Natalie x

What a tosser!

Sorry about the title - couldn't resist! Happy Pancake Day everyone - this is of course my lovely hubby Tim, tossing our pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, the pancake is actually out of shot, somewhere between the pan and the ceiling (hopefully not on the ceiling!)

It is also my one year blogiversary tomorrow - where has the last year gone to? To celebrate I will be doing a little giveaway, which I will draw in a week or so's time. A pretty little package of goodies will wing its way to the lucky winner! - It would be lovely to hear from you all, so come on, even if you're usually just a lurker, let yourself be known - you never know you might be the lucky winner. To add to the fun, simply tell me something you could not live without (and you are not allowed to include family or friends!)
Be back next week with the results!

Sunday: Fun with yarn

On Sunday, with a few hours to relax and do as I please, I felt like I wanted to make something, It has been a while since I knitted or crocheted anything and I decided to do a bit of both. I had seen the tutorial over on Lucy's blog and thought I would have a go, and without really knowing how, I managed to create these cute little flowers. Lucy's instructions are so well written and the photos so clear, that I honestly think anyone could make them - so thank you Lucy!
Although the flowers are very pretty, I don't yet know what will become of them, but it did give me the idea that I would like them to adorn an item of clothing, and so in a few hours I knocked up this hat for Georgia, It has a deep rib which tuns up and the rest of the hat is knitted in double moss stitch. I added two of these little flowers in the same colour as the hat, this time with a button in the centre. It was a very satisfying project combining both knitting and crochet, not bad to say 6 months ago I didn't even know how to hold a crochet hook!

I have a feeling that these little flowers are going to be turning up everywhere from now on!

The little things that make me happy!

A lovely roaring fire when its snowing outside

A cheery vase of daffodils giving a glimpse of the Spring to come

A Little treat to myself - my new Cath Kidston travel purse

Lovely new catalogues to browse.

Sorry I've not been around much lately but there have been some major changes here in the Summer by the Sea household. Just after christmas I was offered a job interview out of the blue, a job related to the kind of work I used to do ages ago had come up and they thought of me - After much deliberation I decided to take the job although it would mean big changes, it is a good salary and with things as they are in the retail industry, I thought it couldn't hurt to have some of our eggs in a different basket. I am only 3 weeks in, but things are going ok so far - I am quite tired as I am still working 2 days in the shop, so Sundays are to be cherished, and hubby has had to adapt as well, now doing most of the childcare whilst trying to run the shop on his own for the 4 days I am at work. It has also meant some other changes as well, once a self confessed train virgin, I now find myself hopping on 08.11 train every morning with confidence. Evenings so far have been a blur of household jobs before falling into bed around 11pm exhausted but hopefully as the weeks go on, our new routine will start to become easier.

We have added a blog feature to our website now and seem to be moving up the google rankings, we have had quite a few orders and as soon as we find the time we have a pile of about 50 more fabrics to upload to the site.

Finally it is coming up to my one year blogiversary (on the 25th Feb) so I may do something special then, maybe a little giveaway?! Which leads me on to the Valentine swap - I am so sorry I missed out there, I typed a response to add my name to the list of participants, but it obviously never registered, and when I logged on to see who I was paired with, I wasn't there (boo hoo) I had even started making/collecting bits to pop in my parcel, so if anyone else missed out and would like to do a belated valentine swap please let me know!

Take care everyone - Natalie x