Craft Cafe

Hi guys, Happy Halloween to you all :D Little miss had a very fun day dressed as a kitty all day. then her grandad and auntie took her trick or treating for hour while mummy handed out sweeties to other little 'monsters'. I love Halloween just because you have an excuse to dress your little humans up all cute or scary for the fun of it. I have no doubt that this wont be the one and olny time my daughter wears this dress as she had fun pretending to be a cat and wiggle her tail all day. Hope you all had fun too Till next time Take Care SJ

So tonight i have been completely awakened to a very real possibility, that i am unintentionally ruining my daughters chances of ever just being simply happy. No I'm not just beating myself up needlessly, i read a blog post tonight that made me take a good hard look at what I'm teaching my two year old without even realising it! My daughter is two and already she has a bedroom full of toys, half of which i could throw away and she would never even notice and with Christmas coming up its bound to get worse! At home i very rarely see her play with one toy for more than 5 minutes before she's running of in search of something else and when i read this post by chance tonight, it made me wonder if she would take this habit and carry it with her for the rest of her life. Would she buy herself something nice only to want more because the first item is not enough?. Am i setting her up for a life of credit payments and living paycheck to paycheck? I have seen this habit myself ...

So I hate shopping, no not shoe shopping (that I love, and so does my two year old ;) ) but food shopping!. But I just found a new toy on the internet, my supermarket and it is brilliant. It brill you can compare all the supermarket prices and you can also earn cashback on some purchases which is awesome! If you haven't used it yet then you must give it a go, you never know you might like it! Link is below and if its your first time, if you like you can use my code and we both get £10 off our shopping, of course that's only if you want to. http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ GV-SHOVQUXUZF Now I'm off to look at little shoes I can buy with my savings and cashback for little missy, or I might be good and pop it in out piggy bank for something special. Take care till next time SJ

So a new obsession of mine is hair clips and headbands. I love making these as they are quick and easy to make and it means I can make them in the exact colour needed to match Isabelle's outfit. These are some of my favourites so far Pink flower headband made with sheer ribbon and a purl button, this is my most favourite!     Lilac Roses Headband, this is perfect for those party dress days!   Pink and white rose hair clips, quick easy and match almost everything!     These all cost pennies to make and not at all long to put together! I have more to come (as I said I'm obsessed) and a board full of ideas on pinterest too! Take care till next time! SJ

So the second thing I've started doing is making a lot of Little Missy's cardigans, hats and jumpers myself. This costs a lot less than buying them in the shop as you can find some very nice quality wools online for pennies if you search in the right places, Facebook is one of those places. You'd be very surprised at how many craft shops are online on Facebook. Best place to start looking is through Supermums Craft Fair I love this page you can find almost anything through this lovely ladies networking page! Here are some of Miss Izzy's hand made additions to her wardrobe   Double knit White and blue summer cardigan £2 + a little bit of left over blue wool for trim to make.   4ply White cardigan little over £2.50 to make Peach Double knit cardigan £2 to make     These are just a few things made for the summer wardrobe, Saved Between £5- £10 making them myself rather than buying similar from a high street shop or paying ...

OK my first post on the matter of saving money when you have a two year old that likes to shop (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!), Is about tutu's. Me and my daughter are taking a holiday in a few weeks with her grandparents to Devon and every year the site has a fancy dress competition. Now naturally I want my daughter to look the part so I ordered her a hand made tutu in the style of Cinderella, It drop kicked by bank balance by £38.50! now don't get me wrong its lush and I love it, but it got me wondering if I could do it myself. They would be perfect for Christmas presents for all her little friends and no doubt little miss is going to want a lot of dress up stuff too!   So I looked to see if I could get the stuff and do it myself, and guess what?   Of course I could!   This tutu cost me £6.60 to make and I have enough fabric left over to do another!  Its made with Two 6inx 25yrd rolls of tulle one pink one purple and a waffle crochet...

It seems I've been neglectful again, I'm going to try posting a lot more often from now on with new idea's and projects and also some new topics. Firstly things around here have become a bit tight, which I suspect has also happened on your end too. so I've had to become a bit more resourceful when it come to saving money and cutting costs here and there. So I thought I'd share a few ways in which I've started to cut back and make do with just one income and a two year old that loves shopping (mummy does too but for now I'm blaming the two year old for my addiction to buy cute children's clothes even when they are not needed!) So in the next few weeks I'll be posting about how I'm learning to make a lot of my daughters clothes myself, or fixing them up to last longer. How I learned to budget from pinterest!, Great money saving tips, including how I just managed to do my monthly grocery shop for £98. Oh and of course it's coming to that t...

Sorry I've been away for so long, I've moved twice since i was last here. Knitting seems to have taken over my little flat here I have boxes and bags of wool everywhere! Work and order in progress  I have to say that so far these are my favourite! Oh and did i mention i got engaged to my MR on my birthday this year so you'll all see a few post about that as the planning starts :) Hope your all well and starting your winter prep! Sammyjo

Izzy's new hair band completely hand made, this is what I've been up to the last month sewing all those tiny petals together. I'm now working on some hair clips and maybe some matching skirts if i can do one! going to have a go anyway!

By the sound of my title you would think i was unhappy and stuck it a rut but i assure you I'm not, quite the opposite actually. I'm looking forward to this year but not because things are going to change, i don't wish that at all!. I have a wonderful daughter who never fails to make me smile, Her daddy may not be perfect but neither am i and if he changed he wouldn't be the man i fell in love with. my family is close and supportive and i really couldn't think of one thing i would change. So this year i think im going to wish that nothing changes and that i can say the same next year and the year after :) Hope you all have a great 2012 All my love SJ

The winners of the blog hop party give away picked by the random number generator are as follows... 1st prize goes to 141, Diane wild at Bearly wild bears --Thank you for the chance to win this great giveaway. Merry Christmas from Minnesota. 2nd prise goes to 40 @pril at KoolBeenz (Thanks for a great giveaway. I am really diggin your blog background.) 3rd prize goes to 44 mhairi(Thanks for hosting a giveaway I am having so much fun discovering new blogs) Thank you to everyone who commented and hello to my new followers, sorry if you didn't win this time but stay in touch as i have a few more give aways planned for next year! Hope your all having a wonderful time this month Take Care SJ

Now for days I've been complaining to my partner about the post and how most of the stuff I've ordered for Christmas has not come but this morning i got a lovely surprise as all my parcels came, plus one i didn't know about so imagine my smile when i pulled this from the packet! This is Izzy's first stocking and i must say i love it! Her great Nannie , the woman who spent many hours teaching me to stitch after my mother laid the foundations, made this for her and may i just say that i have never met anyone faster or as perfect at stitching as my Nannie (although sally does give her a run for her money!) Take care SJ

Edit= Sorry forgot to post the rules and dates, all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is post a comment on this post, give away is open to comments up until midnight on 16 Th December and the winners will be picked at random on the 17 Th . please make sure your comments are liked to an email or blog so i can get in touch with the winners! oh and Good luck! So i the spirit of fun I'm going to participate in the give away 1 winner will receive a Melly and me sewing pattern and a random fat quarter of fabric 2 winners will receive a Christmas fabric fat quarter each have fun hopping around the blogs :) Other blogs participating in this party will be listed here tomorrow

Well its been quiet around here of late with all Christmas shopping, baby demands and stitching, yes i have managed to fit that in some how! Here is a little sneak peek at what I've been doing lately whilst neglecting my BF, he shouldn't mind though as it is for him. I'm hoping to have this finished by the end of next week so i can concentrate on my table runner for Christmas day, we'll see how it works out. SJ

So i must have had a crazy moment last week because i decided that a Christmas table runner made completely from hexagons would look really nice on my table this year! Well I've started but as most of you ,who have done hexagon projects, know its slow progress! I must admit they are fun and easy to make! And i am getting somewhere... Hopefully it will be finished before Christmas but i also have two cross-stitched stockings on the go as well so we'll see. Take Care SJ

So...... i know i haven't been around lately but i have one beautiful little reason for that named izzy :) But i haven't given up sewing altogether, just have to limit it to a night time, and in all the washing and tidying I've to do and that makes for slow progress! However i am glad to announce that the bunting for little madams room is finished! Its a peter rabbit themed room and believe me some of the things i want for her room have been hard to find! like I'm still looking for a light shade! And this is the little Missy hard at work on her sock smile! SJ

So I'm not the best blogger in the world but its been kinda hard these past couple of weeks as i have found it quite hard not to spend every moment looking at our daughter! Ray has been great, i couldn't have asked for a better partner and father for Isabelle. I hope he knows how grateful i am and how much i love him. Its unbelievable how much they change in so little time. SJ

Welcoming to the world Miss Isabelle Andie Hall! : Born Friday 4th March 2011: weighing 5lb 10oz at 01:38am SJ

After only four years of struggling to see on this 18 count aida i have finally finished the alphabet bumble bee sampler..... I think this has something to do with the fact that there is a little one on the way and if it pops out a girl then this will be ideal for the nursery if its a boy then at least i have something put away for the next one :) although that wont be for some time! SJ

Well hello there! Its been a very long time since i've posted here and let me just say that i've missed it :). I've been keeping up with the blogs i read, i just haven't had the motivation to do much crafting over the last year or so. However that has changed because i am going to be mum and the ideas have been coming in by the boat load. Blankets, bumpers, nappy bags, toys and i might even try making some clothing! But first i thought i'd finish the projects i already had on the go, like the pooh bear blankets i started for rays niece and nephew..... This is the quilt top, just waiting for the wadding to come and it will be complete! SJ