Here it is...

I managed to finish rag dolly in time for my little girls birthday! Phew!

She has a LOT of hair! It can be put in plaits or a pony tail, and she has a couple of changes of clothing - I didn't have time to finish more, but more will come.

And here she is, sitting up in her bed. Oh, and remember this chair back - of which I had two?

With the help of some other scrap timber I had lying around, and a pot of white paint, it became this bed for dolly.

It has a foam mattress - upcyled from something I already had, and I made a pillow and a toile quilt for her. I also learnt how to crochet in the last couple of weeks so that I could make a pretty lacy edge to the pillowcase.

As my little girl had told me that ALL she wanted for her birthday were some paper roses, she was quite delighted with her presents. She did get her paper roses too. I'll show you them soon.

Armadillo!

One of the things that has been keeping me busy for the last few weeks has been Armadillo Magazine. If you have any kind of interest in children's books then do check it out. There are some interesting articles and interviews, and if you live in the UK, don't forget to enter the competition.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. We have been enjoying a warm day here in the Highlands, lets hope the nice weather lasts for the weekend! My son is coming home from Uni tomorrow, so I better go make up his bed, and clear out all my craft stuff from his room.

Random Stuff...

The weather has been getting warmer at last. We've been able to get out and about and enjoy some fresh air! My little Miss has been loving messing about in the garden.

I took this picture while we were out for a walk yesterday. Not bad considering I am not the photographer of the house. Aren't dandelion seed heads amazing?

And this is something I am busy upcycling. It is the back of a chair - I have 2 of them. The chairs were bought at auction for £1 and were falling apart. So I helped by sawing the backs off them.
It's going to be part of the birthday present for my little Miss. Are you curious?

All will be revealed soon.

Oh, and this week the topic for Illustration Friday was my suggestion - Equipment.

I am only sorry I don't have the time to submit an illustration for my own choice of topic :-)

C'est la vie!

W.I.P. progress

Rag dolly is progressing slowly. I have to work on her when my little girl is still in bed, or busy elsewhere, so progress is not fast. I sew the hair on strand by strand. This means it can stand up to a lot of rigorous play, and can be styled and played with. It worked really well for the dolls I made my older daughter when she was little. It's a bit of an effort, but really worth it. Other than that, my "to do" list is still as long as ever. :-)

Weekend! Phew!

I am so glad that the weekend is almost here. I seem to be coming down with another cold type virus and am feeling rather weary! Just because I was wondering about with my camera earlier...I thought I'd show you one or two images from around my home. Above is the view from my bathroom window. It looks right out into a birch forest. The new leaves are all appearing now and when the sun shines the dappled shade is beautiful

This is the little key cupboard that hangs near the kitchen door. It was plain wood from Ikea before I painted and distressed it. Above it is one of my favourite plates. I love blue and white china, and topiary trees!

This is a chair I bought from my local auction for only £6. I plan on recovering it and giving it a fresh coat of paint...it must be at least number 357 on my "to do" list!

This chair cost me 50p. Yes, I bought 2 for a £1. I reupholstered the seat pad a few years ago now, and it sits in my bedroom with a couple of my cushions. More topiary trees you might have noticed.

Well, it is time for me to go make a rhubarb crumble, and then do some more to the rag doll. I had wanted to blog about the dandelion fritters we ate for tea last night, but we ate them before I got around to photographing them!

W.I.P.

W.I.P. That's the story of my life in many ways. I am certainly a work in progress - being worked on by God - one stitch at a time. But also, I seem to have so many W.I.P.s going on in my life. My "to do" list just seems to get longer and longer instead of shorter, and much of it is self-inflicted. I often find myself volunteering for tasks because no-one else will do them. Then I begin to feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. I am sure this is a common ailment ! I must stop complaining!

So, today I am sharing with you one of my crafting W.I.P.s.

My little girl will be 4 on the 26th of May and I decided it was time I made her a rag doll. Hopefully it will turn out similar to these ones although I realise it doesn't look very exciting at the moment.

(I must just add that many of my delays are also self inflicted - like when I spent about 2 hours trying to find my box of paint brushes to do the face only to find them later on in one of the places I had looked already- by then it was too late in the evening to start painting- as I said - I am a work in progress!)