The Joy of Handmade

 

I have always enjoyed making things "by hand", since I was little I have always got a kick from starting with a pile of stuff and ending with a pretty/useful/edible product.  Nowadays it is very trendy to be able to make things, not a necessity for most for us, as it was when my mum used to make mine and my sister's clothes.  It is no longer a cost effective way to clothe/feed ourselves, as cloth, wool and everything associated with the process is expensive.   However, like anyone who has tried making their own......., I know the joy it can bring. 

 

 

 

 

For Christmas 2013 I made my two close friend's gifts.  They each got a unique lovingly made cushion, and I crafted a doll for one of their littlies using wool a crochet hook and a little imagination.  So every time they rest their behinds they can think of me, mmmm not sure that sounds quite right but I think you get the idea. 

 

 

The most rewarding thing about this, was the gifts I received in return were also of the handmade variety.  Yes I have infected them with my love of creating, and proved to them that it is easy and really doesn't take that long.  Indeed , much to her horror one of my friend's now regularly says this phrase herself.  When I first urged her to take up crochet she wouldn't believe me but I have brought her over to the dark side.  I usually get my crochet or knitting done, of an evening in front of the tv, so time spent vegetating is also spent creating.  I think I have a slight obsession now and feel wrong if I simply sit and watch tv.

 

 

 

Made by hand does of course cover a multitude of "crafts".  My Mother-In-Law always make the most delicious cakes, and at special events she makes her choccy marble cake.  It has to be baked in the doughnut style tin, and it has to be covered in a thick layer of Cadbury's milk chocolate-yum.  If she simply bought a cake it just wouldn't be the same.

 

I was commissioned by said In-Law to make a baby blanket for her friend's new Grandchild.  So there is the other option.  If your simply not into the whole making thing i'm sure you will know some one who is, so go on ask if they can help, or visit one of the excellent handmade sites like Etsy or Folksy and support the growing Handmade businesses out there.

 

 

My little one enjoys a bit of creating too.  Whether it is with the Playdoh, or building a lighthouse with foghorn and light with his Dad (see weird photo below).

 

 

 

A great place to get inspiration for a bit of creating is Pinterest.  So for all those people I meet who say "I just don't have the imagination" I point them there.  My pal shared a fab pin of a button clock which I loved.  So I was thrilled when she made me one for  Christmas.  My other pal who is also a fan of the homemade,  has crafted me an objet d'art for the last two birthdays.  She is always embarrassed by her creations-who wouldn't love a crochet Satsuma cover, or a felt lipbalm cosy?  However, I appreciate these things as much as any other as I know that she has spent time and energy thinking about me and making them-so Thank you Blackbird and Wren, I was vey touched and loved my gifts!!!

 

Blackbird picks the loveliest handmade gifts from Folksy/Etsy when she hasn't time to craft, and I love these too.  Soo much nicer than a soulless box of smellies! 

This is the weird lighthouse, a happy afternoon spent fiddling with wiring, and it makes the most annoying noise when the foghorn is pressed-little person heaven!

 

And finally........handmade doesn't have to be forever, my little one loves nothing more than a couple of hours building lego with his Daddy, and Daddy is happy too!

 

Ps.  Not wanting to appear too smug or virtuous- just so you know my little one is currently being entertained by the tv!

 Blowing Away The Cobwebs

We have had a lovely time over the Christmas break this year.  We spent the Christmas week up with my sister and family, so my little one was spoilt by all his relatives and had a marvellous time playing with his big cousin.  His favourite thing when we go to stay is playing with his cousin's model railway.

We enjoyed lots of lovely food and company.  We had a rare afternoon just the two of us, as the Grandma's kindly looked after our little man, who knew buying the Christmas veg could be such a pleasant experience, just because you don't have to worry about your child getting bored/needing the loo/whining like a wounded animal for no reason etc etc.  We went to a local farm shop where my hubby was mistaken for a shop assistant/ farmer(he sports marvellous side burns) and asked for advice on how many sprouts a rather posh local should cook for her family.

After a lovely week with my folks, we enjoyed a lazy week at home.  It has been blissful, lots of long lie ins in bed, my hubby hasn't stayed in bed past 7am for the last year (building work etc).  We have enjoyed catching up on the Christmas tv in our cosy new room, its the only room in our house that retains heat so our living room has been sadly neglected.

  We have managed a few walks around the area, and made our annual trip on the North Norfolk Railway and a walk around Southwold on one of the few nice days. I have enjoyed looking at all my new craft books and made a start on a 1940s cardi, and have almost completed a blanket for a friend's new baby.  As well as practicing Tunisian crochet and 4 needle knitting (gifts from my crafty sis), so all in all it has been a fabulous break

We had a great day in Southwold, blowing away the cobwebs with a walk along the prom and lunch in the harbour cafe.  This is my house of choice for our new year visit-bit grander than usual but it faces straight out to sea so it had to be this one.

We have to have an obligatory shot of the lighthouse to start 2014, Happy New Year to you all!!!!

Recycling, Up-cycling, Making do and Mending

It has been a mad week or two here.  I have had a load of theatre work on, which has meant busy days, long nights and working the weekends, and of course the promise of some pennies.  My poor little man has had to put up with a lot of "in a minute" and "not right now sweet pea, mummy is working", on the positive side he has enjoyed lots of fun trips out at the weekends with his Daddy.  There isn't a train or tram related attraction in the area that hasn't had a visit from my boys in the last few weeks.

In between all the hard work i have managed to get in a bit of creative stuff.  I found this rather groovy cloth kits style toy in a local curios shop.  Victoria Giraffe was still in her packet, pristine and un-cut.  Purists may have kept her this way, but not me.  At the orders of my little one i got out my shears and started chopping.  After a couple of hours stitching and stuffing she was done, she is a bit wobbly on her pins, as all new Giraffes are i'm sure, but i am a little bit in love with my £8 purchase.

 I have been making bits and bobs for a Christmas Fayre coming up and in true up-cycling fashion i have re-purposed this quirky poodle pinny into a useful messenger style bag.

 My other half has been spending his free time sorting out a window in our larder which used to be on an outside wall pre-building work.  he likes to do a proper job, so this has involved a lot of restoration work, sanding re-painting re-puttying etc.  This doesn't provide very exciting photos, so instead i thought i'd share our pics of our new kitchen light restoration.  We have had a set of the rather grubby looking spots in our kitchen since we moved in a good 10 years ago.  Apart from the fact that they have gone that funny yellowy white that all aged white items seem to go, they are also unbelieveably mucky.  I have tried to clean them, but the years of built up dirt dust and grease have made this an impossible job.  Were it not for the fact that one of  bulbs seem to blow every week we may have just continued to put up with them.  However, i found three lovely old bulk head lights for sale at the Fair on the green in Southwold over the summer, for the very reasonable price of £6 each so the 1980s spots have gone.  Mr Lulumama set about cleaning them up, sanding them down and giving them a new coat of paint inside and out.  They give off a much better light and look sooo much better than their predessesors, and its nice to know that we are re-using something that was made here(well in Scotland) possibly 50 years ago.

 No tricks, just lots of treats!


After the terribly strong winds of Monday, (we got off pretty much unscathed save a rogue wheelie bin taking itself off for a walk) we had a real treat this last week.  Some visitors from the West Country flew in for a quick visit.  We worked out that we have been friends for a mere 17 years, since meeting at college many moons ago.    I can't quite believe that it has been this long.  We last saw each other Autumn half term2012,  when they spent a week in Southwold.  This year ithe venue was Lulumama towers, not quite 5 stars, but they seemed to enjoy it.  The children all got on like a house on fire, it was so lovely to have the hubub of siblings playing and occasionally squabbling filling our house!

 As well as driving a very long way, my pal also brought along lots of Halloween treats.   She carved a mean pumpkin and made a great pie with the remains.  It was a first for me and i will definitely be trying it next year, worth breaking my diet for.  She simply stewed the flesh for a bit with some golden syrup, a knob of butter, and some mixed spice.  Then she tipped the lot into a pie dish lined with puff pastry, made a lattice top and baked until brown and crispy.  We had it with single cream dribbled on top-yum!

 The only choice for our day out with them was of course Southwold.  It was an absolutely glorious day, blue skies and sunshine.  We enjoyed a picnic on the beach, a walk along the prom, and had a go on the Pier amusements, before we headed back to the car via a fabby sweet shop for a penny mix.

It was over all to soon, but I would like to take this chance to thank my pal for driving a monumental distance to spend some of their half term with us-we miss you!!!

Autumn Creations

Our poor neglected garden is still doing us proud, and producing marvelous specimens like these.  They aren't oversized courgettes (honest) but two lovely marrows.  We had them for lunch last weekend, stuffed with tasty sausagemeat, mushrooms, peppars and olives, followed by a yummy crumble, made from of our modest bramley harvest.  This special lunch was shared with our friends and their two children, we haven't had them over since our building work began.  It was soo nice to be able to all sit comfortabley in our new room (get used to hearing about the new room a lot, it has made a huge impact on our quality of life!), and best of all have a good catch up with some lovely friends.  they have two boys, one the same age as ours(3ish), and a younger boy who is nearly one.  He was just walking and had no built in fear of anything hazardous, i'd forgotten how much you have to watch them, and thankfully his Mum noticed when he was choking on a marble, or making a bee line for the hot stove, our house is just a giant deathtrap to a little one that age.  We had a great afternoon, which ended abruptly when the general 3-4pm meltdown occurred, this seems to be the witching hour from all children from birth to hopefully not much longer for us. 

I have been on a creative spree of late, before another load of work arrived, demanding my proffesional head be put on.  A Mum from Pre-school has invited me to have a pitch at her child's school Christmas Fair.  So i set to making a few fresh bits and bobs to tempt people for the festive  season.  I raided my stash of cloth, and decided to try out a new shaped bag.  I was really pleased with the first attempt, the crazy orange daisy bag below.

So i have whipped up a few more, in lovely retro cloths.  I have lined them all with some lovely unbleached calico, and included an inside pocket for all those bits that get lost in the chaos of a good sized bag.  I must admit to wanting to keep them all but i will be strong and think of the pennies(fingers crossed).

A rather marvellous London Cab with its winter coat on!

Look its them off the Sewing Bee!

It hasn't all been work, work, work though.  I managed to get to the Knitting and Stitching Fair at Ally Pally the other weekend.  My good friend and I headed off in the early hours to the big smoke, and had a thoroughly lovely day.  We were both quite restrained in our purchases, buying a few treats, and as has become our tradition, stopped on the way home for an Ikea fix and a tea of their fine if equine meatballs.  More of my purchases another time!

Another make for the Christmas fair!

Mixed Bag

It has been a busy few weeks at Chez Lulumama.  September is over and i only managed three posts last month, I have kind of lost my way a bit.  The first few weeks of September shot by, maybe it is because Master W has started going to pre-school for his full 15 hours a week.  Our 'days off' are kept busy meeting up with friends.   I spend a lot of time with two lovely ladies and their little ones,  we all met at our NCT classes and have met up regularly since.  Our Thursday meet ups have become sacred, to the point where we arrange everything around them.  We alternate between houses, so it at least forces me to do some cleaning every 3 weeks!  Along with lots of other friends i have made since becoming a Mummy, my two pals have helped me through some difficult times.  So to anyone reading this who is expecting , i would say go to an antenatal class/bumps and babes group, friends are your most important piece of 'equipment'.

We have gathered all safely in, although the pear harvest was gathered a bit late and mushyness set in before i could use them all up.  Today's Pear, Hazelnut and Chocolate cake became Apple, Hazelnut and...etc as the first fruit I selected fell apart in my hands.

We have had some visitors recently, a delightful pair of young Guinea Pigs called Pancake and Pea.  Below is a blurry shot of Pea on my son's knee, he is a bit blase about animals, but he got rather fond of this pair.  They have now returned home, and we miss them and their funny little noises!

The other excitement in September was a special camping trip to The 39th Henham Steam Rally, in Henham Park near Southwold(where they hold The Latitude Festival-but with a slightly different crowd!).  It all began on Thursday afternoon when one of my friend's husband and cousin loaded the roller they help with  onto a lowloader to go off to the fair,  right outside my house.  Three excited toddlers(and us) watched as it slid dramatically off the loading ramps, as you can see it was very wet and apparently has no grip in the wet.  It was very exciting seeing 10+tonnes of metal nearly come to a sticky end.  They expertly stopped it all ending in disaster and got it on in the end.  We took the littlies  camping at Henham when they were still tiny and they loved it.  So along with two aforementioned friends we made camp in a lovely area of the estate.  There was a sweet little wood behind the tents, which our three and all the children on site it seemed, made their own camp.  They had a whale of a time messing about with sticks and gathering giant pine cones.

Then of course there is the main attraction of the event-everything steam driven.  From the shiny phut-phutting traction engines and rollers, to the steam powered funfair, Henham has it all!  We spent all of Saturday wandering around looking, smelling and riding on the various attractions.

Even dogs like a bit of smoke and steam!!

In the evening we took the two boys off to the Funfair for some noisy  fun.  My friend's little boy was amazingly brave and enjoyed a ride on the big wheel.

He doesn't look madly happy here, but he did love it, and even went back on the next day for another go.  It was great to see the fair with all its bright lights and gaudy colours, the big showman's engine and steam powered Gallopers were very popular with our little ones.

The weather over the weekend was amazing, it was very warm on the Sunday, it felt more like June than September.  We did a bit more exploring on the last day, and watched some of the events in the main arena, the tortoise race and grand parade were fantastic.  Our two boys however were a little overwhelmed and both fell asleep during this.  Despite over 20 engines tooting their whistles they stayed fast asleep!  We headed off home with cries of "I don't want to go home" coming from the backseat, but we reassured him that we would return next year!

Christmas Is Coming!

Hello there, i am back.  Thanks to Lauren at Edge Computers in Beccles i am re-united with my pooter.  The email is still wonky as it is my provider having a dicky fit, not my little pooter, so apologies to anyone who may have tried to contact me, i am due to receive a new password soon, and then all shall be well(fingers crossed).  I have been trying for a while now to come up with some fundraising ideas for my son's pre-school, that would use my talents and be appealing enough for people to part with their hard earned cash for.  I have decided that Christmas is always something that people will spend a few pennies on, so i will be offering personalised stockings ( to put gifts in, not slinky pins).  The above is the final "draft" of a few ideas that have been bouncing around my head as i try to get to sleep at night. It is made from red felt, green felt, funky "noel" ribbon and unbleached canvas and calico, i have had to try and find something simple enough that i could make lots(ha ha ever the optimist) but appealing to pre-school parents.  Hopefully i have struck the right chord, and the pre-school approve, and then its just a wait and see if any orders come in!  I have so many ideas at the moment of things i want to make, that i feel like i might pop, but as usual life gets in the way.  I couldn't quite believe it this week when my fat club leader told us it was only 15 weeks until Christmas-eek.  I screamed internally, and ran through all the projects i was aiming to get done pre the 25th of Dec, 15 weeks will never be enough time!  Anyway i shall leave you with that happy thought.....see you again soon, catx