Project 4 - A Year of Gifts

Week 4 of A Year of Gifts is here already - Can you believe it ?

This week I have a beautiful Felt Candle Mat adorned with pearl beads for you to make.

It is a very simple design but the possibilities are endless.  Watch the Instructional Video to find out more.  You can find it HERE on my channel.

Whilst you are there do not forget to subscribe as I add more crafty instructional videos every week.    To make the candle mat you will need to download the Templates which you will find HERE.

I hope you like this weeks little project.  It is very achievable for all skill levels.

 I have another give away this week which is for a set of little pre-cut butterflies - To enter just simply share this weeks project on your blog or on social media.

Last weeks winner was Illene T.  Congratulations Illene.  Drop me a message with your address and I will send out the card kit from last week.

Have a great week everyone.  Don't forget to join me in my Facebook Craft Room for lots of inspiration throughout the week.

Hugs,

Fee x

Such A Busy Season

Summer is such a busy time here in the garden.  All of the fruit seems to ripen at the one time and the tomatoes are sneaking up behind them.

I finally finished picking the B grade apricots and beat the local parrots to them

And the greengages I picked before they are quite ripe but the parrots are relentless and I have to play the smarts to beat them to them.

All of the apricots have been processed - Some have been made into Jam and the remainder I have stewed and frozen ready for pies, crumbles and just eating over cereal etc.

They are one of our favourite fruits and mother nature was very kind to us this year with a wonderful crop.

I am going to have to heavily prune them this year as a few of the branches on each tree didn't bare fruit this year.

I think I will have to google how ......  I am not a gardening expert by any stretch .......  

The smell of these cooking was just amazing.  The house had a sweet honey scent.  I think because I used brown sugar when stewing that it caramelised them a little.

I recently picked up these gorgeous wooden dress forms from my local scrapbooking shop.

I have slowly been working on them.  Last weekend I undercoated them all with GESSO

And whilst I had the paint brush out and a bit of a mess happening I painted some wooden embellishments as well.  I did a little more work o the dress forms yesterday so I will show you them next time.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,

Fee xx

Project 3 - A Year of Gifts

Happy Monday and Welcome to the latest project in a Year of Gifts.  It's for this gorgeous little box with a belly band with 6 mini cards and envelopes inside.  All made from scratch !

It's super easy to make and all instructions are over on my YOU TUBE channel so nothing to download this week.

They are just adorable and so easy to make.  They would make the perfect gift for almost anybody.  

The measurements from the video for the Card is 6"X 3", The piece of cardstock for the envelopes are 5 1/4 " Square and the envelope punch board can be sourced HERE

All of the little cut embellishments on each card are made from gold foil card stock and are adorned with diamente and pearl embellishments.

They look beautiful teamed with the gorgeous water colour linen finish paper.

I must apologise for two things in the video (I filmed it 4 times so this was my 5th attempt and I got very flustered ! - The first 4 versions are a whole another story !)

Firstly I thought the envelope punch board was $25 - It is in fact $32 and I tell you that there are two ways to make the belly band and in fact only show you one - It is the best way so we might leave it at that.

I hope you like this weeks project and have fun making it.  If you do not have the supplies and/or the equipment and want to give paper crafting a go I have some awesome pre-cut, pre-stamped, pre punched and pre-scored kits available for $12 - All you need is glue

They are great value and will give you a stunning finish.  You can purchase them HERE

I hope you give them a go.  The winner of last weeks give away is VETTA please send me a message and I will get your pre-printed stitchery and thread out to you.  This week's give away is for one of these kits.  Just simply share on your blog or social media and leave me a message and tell me where you shared it.

Hugs,

Fee x

Domestic Life & Date Scones

My dear friend Jenny and I will be discussing different sections of this wonderful book throughout the entire year.  We are starting off with the Introduction today.  After reading it again and again the sentence that resonates with me the most is "There is a world of difference between domesticity and domestication."

How true !  Domestication as defined by Wikipedia is :- Domestication, from the Latin domesticus, 'belonging to the house',  You can be domesticated but not truly understand the art of domesticity ......

Let me explain ...

There is so much more to domestic life.  Cooking, Cleaning, Laundry and general house keeping is not a "job" but a form of art.  For those of us that relish in the making of a home we encompass and welcome the joys of cooking and cleaning and making our houses, homes.  The place where love resides and the kettle is always on for a friend or loved one in need of a warm beverage and a bite to eat.  You can feel the warmth of a "home"as soon as you cross it's threshold.

The place where memories are made.  I can close my eyes at anytime and transport myself back in time to either of my grand mothers homes.  They were warm, inviting and so welcoming.  Hand made rugs were scattered on chairs,  cakes would be on cooling racks ready to lavish with icing,  the washing would be neatly and evenly pegged on the washing line.  The vegetable garden would be lush, green and bountiful.  The berry bushes would be groaning with fruit every summer and would be lovingly encompassed under a perfectly placed net to ensure the birds didn't get full bellies on the sweet offerings.  I could go on and on ........  My grandmothers were not just domesticated .....  They were true artists of domesticity and I am becoming more and more like them every day and I couldn't be prouder ! 

I have made it my life's mission to ensure that all of my children and their children have a safe haven within the walls of our home.  Our door is always open and all of the fine arts of domesticity are practiced here.  Cooking, Baking, Bottling, Preserving, Gardening, Knitting, Sewing and so much more.  I can reel off a handful of home made goodies that each grand child adores and they can be ensured that at least one of their favourites will be on offer when they arrive for a visit.

  It is my greatest desire to be remembered as a loving caring woman who adored her family.  It is my hope that I have passed down my love of my home and all it encompasses to my offspring and that they in turn learn the Gentle Art of Domesticity from me and pass it on to further generations so that it is never lost.

In this material and disposable world it is so easy to buy whatever you want to eat, wear or place within the walls of your home but the art of creating them is true domestic genius.

And the best part is it is so easy to live this life of gentle domesticity.  It can be just the simplest of things that make YOU enjoy YOUR domestic life.  There are no RULES, NO Can's and Can Nots.  

It is your domestic life and you can choose to do whatever you like to make it your own and enjoy it.

Just baking some family favourites to share with your loved ones gives you that heart swelling feeling and just pure JOY.  It does it for me every time !

A lovely lady here on the blog asked me to share my date scone recipe the other day so I decided to bake a fresh batch for my hubby who declares that they are his favourite thing of all time !

Now just like domestic life there are no right and wrong ways to doing most things and a lot of you will be surprised to hear that my scones have an egg in them but believe me they are the best tasting date scones ever !  Give them a try and let me know what you think.  

Ingredients

250g Chopped Pitted Dates (8.8 oz)

400g Self Raising Flour (14.1 oz)

20g Butter (.71 oz)

30g Sugar (1.05 oz)

1 Egg

125ml Milk (4.2 floz)

125ml Cream (4.2 floz)

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius.  

Line a baking tray with some baking paper.

Place the flour and butter in a bowl and rub the flour in with your fingers until the butter is crumbly.

Add all of the remaining ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon to a dough consistency.  Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 1 minute or so.

Press out to around 2.5cm in depth and then cut rounds with a scone cutter.

Place on a tray slightly apart and then brush with a little milk on top.

Place into the oven for 10 - 15 minutes (when risen and turning golden on top)

Turn out into a fresh tea towel and wrap up,

Break in half and serve warm with butter

They are just delicious.  We eat some hot and I freeze the remainder in a container and pull out a few when unexpected visitors arrive and gently defrost in the oven or microwave.

I hope you give them a try.

Love and Hugs,

Fee xx

A Year of Gifts - Project 2

Welcome to week 2 of A YEAR OF GIFTS !

Today I have this cute little wall hanging for you to stitch

It uses just 3 basic stitches and I have compiled a HOW TO Stitchery video for you to watch with a run down on the basic supplies required along with a few hints and tips.

You can watch the video HERE

And you can download the pattern sheet HERE

The design is also available as a pre-printed stitchery on White or Cream Hanky Linen over in THE STORE

And of course there is another give away.  This time for some variegated thread and a pre-printed stitchery on white hanky linen.  Just simply share this weeks project on social media or on your blog and leave a comment to let me know where you shared it.

Remember the pattern is a FREE download for the month of January after that it will be in my ETSY store.

I hope you enjoy stitching this little design.

Hugs,

Fee

Thanks So Much

Thank you so much for the wonderful response to the first project in A YEAR OF GIFTS.  I have enjoyed your enthusiasm and support so much.

Above are the first set I have seen in our FACEBOOK Group.  These were made by the delightful Lynley.

I am pleased to announce the winner of the sachet fronts is Julie Crouch.  Thank you to everyone who shared about the first project.  There will be another give away on Monday to celebrate Project 2.  Julie please contact me and I will send your sachet fronts out.

I've been super busy in the studio cutting kits for the coming weeks.

It is really hard to keep secrets from you each week.  I am now working on project 5.  So quite a few projects are finished and under wraps until the day of their release.  So many secrets !!

And I have been kept busy helping to raise this gorgeous puddle of kittens.  6 gorgeous burmese babies that keep me totally entertained with their antics.

And of course I always have a constant shadow.  My beautiful boy Huxley.

I am off now to put my feet up and watch the second episode of Little Women on the ABC tonight followed by the second episode of a wonderful Agatha Christie series.  Television Bliss.

See you on MOnday

Hugs,

Fee xx

A Year of Gifts - Project 1

Welcome to Project 1 in a year of gifts here on the blog.  Each Monday for the next 50 I will be sharing a FREE project here on the blog.  The project will stay up until the end of the month so download it for FREE whilst you can.

This first project is a tutorial to make these gorgeous vintage style fragrant sachets.

I made these for some friends last year and they were loved very much by the recipients so I thought your friends and family may enjoy receiving them as well.

The tutorial teaches you how to print images onto fabric as well.  The possibilities with this technique are endless.

The downloadable tutorial is available HERE and a step by step video to make your very own and to print on fabric can be found HERE on my channel.  Whilst you are there don't forget to subscribe to my channel to be notified when I upload new videos.

** EDIT - When trying to print the final page of the download with the images on it please ensure that you give the page plenty of time to load (due to the quality of the images) before you click PRINT.  If the page hasn't loaded on your screen it will print blank.  It only takes a few minutes (dependent on your download speed)

I hope you enjoy making them as much as I have.

I am also running a little give away of a set of printed sachet fronts ready to applique down to anyone who shares about this project on their blog or social media.  To be in the draw just simply leave me a message here on the blog and let me know where you shared it.  I will draw the winner next Monday 14th January, when project 2 is released.

And finally for those of you that would prefer a pre-printed and pre-cut kit they can be found HERE in my little store.

I hope you enjoy Project 1.

Hugs,

Fee xx