60th Birthday.....Elvis......and Hilly billies!!

We arrived!! 

Graceland was a place Mum had always wanted to visit,

as her 60th birthday surprise we took her on her dream holiday.

We checked into the Heartbreak Hotel for 3 nights and

set about seeing all Memphis had to offer.

Beale St in down town Memphis

Happy 60th Birthday Mum

Mum's 60th Birthday, spent the day at Graceland

Mum defacing the wall around Graceland,

before we set off on our 8 hour drive to the Smokies

Chillin at Theatre Mountain Lodge deep within the Smokey Mountains.

Now which one should I buy?

Shopping in Gatlinburg

Hanging with the Yocals!!!

DollyWood!!!

Cades Cove

On the deck drinking 'Moonshine'

My fake 30th Birthday, spent at dixie Stampede

after a 4 hour drive we finally arrived at Jack Daniels, 

just got to drive 4 hours back home.

We all arrived home after a wonderful week,

Mum managed to bring Elvis back to England.

Finally.......a sewing room all of my own!!

I purchased this little beauty from Ebay, It's a hand operated Singer Sewing Machine from1902, still in full working order and I just love it!!

This is the day bed, soon to be covered in cushions (as soon as I get time to make some)

And this is my ribbon stash, I found this box in TK Maxx for £4!!

My sewing room is a working progress but as soon as I add anymore pieces i will be sure to keep you all updated.

NEW YORK CITY

New York has been and gone in a flash.....it was everything I had ever imagined and more!!

It was amazing , I had such an amazing time, can't believe I was ever there.

What was more amazing was that I went for the day!! Yes...the DAY!!

I set off From Manchester, England on Sunday Morning and set off back from JFK sunday evening, arriving back into Manchester early Monday Morning. All in all it was 28 hours which gave me 6 hours free time in NYC!!

I saw all the sights, went to Bloomingdales, F.A.O Schwartz (played on the BIG Piano!), Tiffany's. I strutted my stuff down 5th Ave, I saw the Rockefeller Centre, Times Square, Chrysler Building, Empire State, Ground Zero, Wall St, the Statue of Libery from Battery Park and to finish drove over the Brooklyn Bridge!!

I had a driver for the day which is how I managed to fit so much in. It was the experience of a lifetime and I will remember it forever, I just wish I had experienced it with my husband, but that will have to wait till next time.

I now have my shop open on Etsy, it will have an array of items including cross stitch and crocheted goods. My shop is called Houselabel, click on the link above and it will take to it.

Angel Kisses and Third Degree Burns

I decided to make some scrabbled eggs and when I opened the egg carton, one of the eggs had a beautiful white feather on it.  When I showed my husband he said "its supposed to be good luck it means an Angel has kissed it" (aahhh) so I proceeded to make my scrabbled eggs and get third degree burns on my hand while doing so.  

So much for the good luck and are Angel kisses supposed to scar!!!

New York 18 days and counting!!

Crisp January Morning

Woke this morning to see a beautiful crisp January morning

It was apparently -6 degrees last night, winter is definitely upon us.

19 days to go till New York!!

Crafty New Year!!

So i haven't blogged for a while, last time i blogged i was contemplating moving to London....well i didn't go in the end, for one reason or another, but it has turned out to be the best decision ever.  I have been busy busy busy, making lots of items for my family and friends over the past months so here are the pics of the many things i have created.  

i love this photo, they look so clean and cosy.

So i taught myself to crochet and made these two blankets.  The one above is my take on the Babette blanket for my niece's 12th birthday.  The blanket below I made for my best friend who gave birth to a beautiful daughter back in September.

My sister and her family finally moved into the house of their dreams, so to commemorate the occasion i cross stitched a 'Home Sweet Home' sign

Then i discovered Amigurumi!! for those of you like me who had never heard of Amigurumi before, it is the japanese art of crocheting cute toys.  They are amazing, and as soon as i started the whole google search of Amigurumi i was hooked and below is the picture of my first attempt.

its supposed to be Hello Kitty, i think she turned out pretty well i gave her to my friend for her birthday on new years eve along with a Hello Kitty card that i cross stitched too.

Then i decided to stitch something to mark the New year so i made a little heart shaped pillow and gave it to my Aunt for her birthday, which was actually on Christmas day but she didn't have a party till the 3rd of Jan.  I actually really love this and think it turned out really well.  I was actually in a rush to complete this as i left it to the last minute and had loads of things going on, that i actually took it with me on a shopping trip and sat and stitched over lunch!!  I think i might make a few and see about selling them.  I would buy one of these, would you?

(for those of you who have read my earlier posts, i finally used a button from the 750 i bought from Etsy on this project!!)

So i told you i had been busy!! 

I am also counting down the days till i go to New York!! i have never been state side before and the official count down is 20 days!!!!!

Aaaarrrhhh!!! Too much to do and not enough time!

I am afraid to say that i have been neglecting my blog for a while, due to the fact that I am extremely busy!! but that's no excuse really.  Nearly everyone in my close family and friends has either had a birthday, wedding anniversary, wedding, christening or the birth of a new child in the months of September and August this year, so it has been a very hectic couple of months.  I am still honouring my handmade pledge, so i have hand made gifts for all these people, but as they have been gifts and i know they all read my blog, I couldn't list any of the items I have made.  The biggest gift that is for my nieces birthday in November has taken up a lot of my time is the Babette blanket but I have crocheted all the squares now so i just need to block them and stitch them together (I say just, but this is probably the most time consuming part of the whole process).  Can you believe Christmas is just around the corner!! so October and November are going to be just as busy as I start all over again making Christmas gifts!!!!  I have also have a very hard decision to make.  I have been asked by my company if i would consider relocating to London.  I have never lived or worked in London, I love going to visit and shop but, could I stand living in such a busy city all year round?  Also my husband would need to find work and we would need to find somewhere to live and rent out our property in Manchester.  The other thing is i would need to have all this done in 8 weeks!!!  Anyway enough of me ranting on, I'll let you all know my decision when its made, hopefully I'll still have hair and it won't have fallen out with stress!!!