Rosemary's Rabbit

A rainy "good afternoon" to you dear friends & readers

dead-headed roses waiting to be spread on cane trays for drying the petals

My friend Rosemary is a customer that lives out the back of beyond

She pops by a couple of times a year to shop for gifts

Quite sometime ago she requested that I make a rabbit for her new grandaughter for christmas

... being the great focused business-woman that I am .... I promptly forgot her request !!!!!

The other night whilst trying to sleep, a cog shifted in my brain ... & I remembered the rabbit request !!!!***

"a girl rabbit in a pink dress about this big " were her instructions "no cardigan but quite girly & pretty"

I used my Rosalie Quinlan book "Gift" & her "Miss Millie" pattern as a guide ... but I enlarged it a little & gave her a dress instead of bloomers

I even found the same micro waffle fabric as the pattern suggested for the body in my stash, but it was pure white, so got a good dunking in parisian essence.

I decided to do 2 bodies & have one as stock for the cottage - the 2nd Miss Millie got clothed in a lovely paisley print fabric I had on hand ...

Oh I do adore a good old paisley print  :-)

Being the neurotic creative person that I am, I had to give them a little doiley hanky to hold in their hands

Rosemary is coming tomorrow to collect her rabbit ... I wonder which she will choose ... Miss Rosebud or Miss Paisley ???     Which one would you choose ???

My friend Sandy has always had the most beautiful christmas decorations & displays ... earlier this year she had the misfortune to sustain a terrible fire in which she lost all her lovely christmas collections, along with lots of other personal items.

I had wanted to make her something a little christmassy as she begins to replace her collection again .... she had admired one of the Santa bags in the Cottage & I remembered she had had one before the fire ... so I sat & stitched one for her this past week

It is a Country Friends design (an old pattern) & just simple redwork which I lined & backed with a ticking fabric.

They are lovely filled with lollies or choccy treats & hung on a door knob for when guests arrive ...

 I noticed this sign which I had tossed aside during my outside spring clean-up prior to the wedding ... it was certainly faded & past its best ... I had other ideas for it as it seemed the perfect size ...

You can hardly read it - it is SO faded - but it said  "PEACE may peace be forever in our hearts & home"

Many months ago I had picked up a couple of floral spring clips from the bargain bin at The Warehouse ...

 I wanted something to affix them to, to make a clipboard of sorts

After a "lick & a promise" with my waxing/painting technique ... I managed to attach the pegs to the board & used the "rub-ons" given to me by my friend Elaine

The little wooden butterfly was found in my craft drawer stash 

I have hung this on my sewing room wall & am finding it most useful already.

I had to do a trip to Cambridge last week & popped in (again) to this lovely shop  -  mystyle

I had long coveted one of their Cath Kidston ironing board covers but I could not bring myself to pay $70 for something to cover the ironing board !! ... so instead I bought 70 cms of their good quality fabric & made myself one (which probably took half an hour at the most)

I simply took my old cover off & traced around it on the floor, & made a casing with elastic threaded through it 

I am so chuffed with my new cover ... my ironing board covers get a hard time with sticky vliesofix etc & like many crafters, they get used a great deal - not just to do the ironing  :-)

Thank you all SO much for your very kind comments last post about my sons wedding day ...  I must confess to feeling my energy levels returning again & now my groups have finished for the year, I can breathe a sign of relief

The last bus on the last day was not without dramas ... he actually drove off leaving 2 ladies still chatting to me in the Cottage !!!

I did not know I could run that fast (lucky I didnt fly to bits!!!) as I ran out my other gate to catch him coming up the road -

 I suggested rather "firmly" to him that perhaps he do a headcount in future, before departing a venue !!

Sarah emailed me a couple more photos I would like to share with you please ...

 Notice how chuffed Cedric (scarecrow) looks in this photo that he got to be a part of the day  :-)

I love this photo - look at my Mums happy face as she hugs Sarah in the background

Isabella (in the background) also got to feature - she got a good wash/hosing the day before hand - she got told she was in NO fit state to attend a wedding all grubby & cobwebby like she was - it was disgraceful !!!

Sarahs nephews ... I think they had just been up to mischief ... they've got that "it wasn't me" look on their faces  :-)

me & my two sons ... Kayne not asleep this time !!!

Probably my most favourite so far (above) - thanks so much for letting me share them with you 

Today is a dark sky & a rainy day - a perfect day for sitting at the table making some christmas cards - I love the whole cutting & pasting thing ... reminds me of when I was little (quite some time ago now!!!)

Thank You So Much for stopping by dear friends & readers
May you enjoy the rest of your week be it rainy or sunshine :-)
much love/hugs/friendship to you all
Julie x0x0x