i dont often paint pictures because i do not have the attention to detail needed  ,but , i read somewhere a fantastic  explanation for what shadows are made of and i felt that i had to hang it on my wall.

i could lie and say it  is in the naive/folksy style but really thats just how i paint. 
thanks for looking

its that time of year again  JAM TIME ! but with the weather this bad i havent been to the pick your own ( i doubt they have much ripe anyway  ).

i had some fruit that i forgot about in the fridge including a punnet of strawbs from the local shop,  a very ripe mango and not enuff rhubarb for a crumble so i got out me sugar and a few jars from the horde on top of the kitchen cupboard and set to jammy work.
chop,  ,stir,  boil,  BINGO!
  strawberry/mango delicate and less sickly than plain strawb

  ginger and rhubarb quite soft set  but oh so lovely on toast

no mystery to the recipes just equal fruit to sugar ( mine had pectin in the sugar) ,boil it all up till its at the setting point ( wrinkles on a cold plate) pot into hot sterile jars, add lids and leave to cool ! nom !

Hullo there. ok despite having an ever growing fabric stash im always terrified to cut into those pretty patterns  cos i just know ill ruin them before really knowing what im up to , so when i found out a friend of mine was expecting  i had a solid idea for a project.


is a cot size quilt so roughly half a metre each way with light weight wadding inside

i think the stripes are a bit sea side.
extreme close ups


 this was my first ever quilt start to finish and i am well proud of how turned out ( even the odd stitching round the edges) i found the very easy pattern in a magazine and some loverly fat quaters in baby boy blues online @ fabric rehab
the crowns are my fave pattern, just right for a jubilee baby!

i love painted furniture .....and i like fruit....what better reasons to get crafty.
 sooooooo..
this was a plain brown watermarked cabinet from the charity shop ( forgot the before pic oops  )

then with a lot of sanding and some tester pots and varnish TA-DA!



now its fruity, melon-y bedside-y goodness



not sure you can see but it has stripey "skin" like a proper melon
 it is now next to my sisters bed full of books/ponies/dust and other teenage girl type crap
thanks for looking xx

any one out there in geordie land .groups seem a bit thin on the ground

xmas pressie for my little bro , he has cerebral palsy so feels the cold ,this will keep him warm in the house or he can wear it when out in his wheelchair.

its piratey thick fleece wich he will love! 
and this was my first zip !!

 it was not as scary as i imagined (even without zipper foot ) its a bit on the big side but hey itll last longer 

 oooh i love a bit of jam making.
i heard of a recipe for vanilla and pear jam and thought it sounded devine ! but it involved apple juice concentrate and a bit of faffing about so i ignored that and followed the basic "1kg fruit to 1kg sugar and boil till set" method
here she is (awaiting a label)

very tasty but subtle.

i also whipped up some chilli jelli for my dad to slather on his left over turkey this xmas

i dont know how hot it is coz i dont dare try it   

 i made this apron for my sis (crimbo pressy!) , put a little appliqué initial on it using sewing machine, never done that before!  and covered a join in the neck strap with little buttons 
 




comments and crits very welcome

these are the first bits of finished wearable knitting ive done.  they were quit simple to make just tubes made from  rectangles really. theyre destined for xmas pressies (ssshh dont tell)

there was yet another birthday in the tribe so i had a go at the now infamous rainbow cake (minus most of the icing at the request of the birthday boy).
  here it is ......




it went down a storm after the initial "WTF how'd you do that!?!?!"