NGUPLUS

 I am sharing two of my favourite things here today......as it says in the title, flowers and crochet :).....but first i must say a huge thank you to everyone who has entered my springtime giveaway on my previous post (open till march 31 if you would still like to put your name in the draw)...............i have so enjoyed reading your lovely comments, and finding some new bloggers to visit too........my pastel ripple blanket is finished and has been photographed........
.............and i have been loving having jugs of spring flowers in my studio and sewing room while i work this week ...............
..............the weather has been sunny, rainy, bright, but most of all chilly with a mean east wind.....
 ...........i finished off this ripple by sewing on a bobble trim, like i did with the bright ripple stripe i made last spring, but this time i used white bobbles which blend in with the last white stripes.......
 ............i have been working on my secret projects.......(all magazine commissions which will pop up eventually here)..........some of the projects involve paper crafts and scrapbook techniques which i so love to play with sometimes............my desk is covered with crafts materials and ready for a big tidy up now......................
 ..............here is the pastel ripple hanging on the potting shed door..............and some of my chalks...
 ...............i notice i seem to have used a lot of the pink one :)................
 ............... sweet pink hyacinths from the garden......i plant the potted hyacinths and other bulbs outside after they flower in the house each year and now have quite a collection outdoors each spring.......below are pink primula from outside daisys pre-school.............and some soft new yarn....
 .................and a new persephone book..............i am not sure yet what i will make with this gorgeous new yarn, at the moment i am just enjoying having it there looking delicious.............
 ...............the little crate is handy to put a project in and pile up the yarn in too......i am always moving my crafty stuff about depending on where i want to work on it and also in an effort not to take over the whole house with it ;)..............
 ..............i keep sewing things on a tray (which is often in my photographs) and that is easy to lift onto a higher table away from small childrens hands.......scissors and pins and needles are always in use around here........
                              ................one of my favourite spring flowers is the bellis daisy..............
                         .............i love to mix the garden flowers together with pretty china.....
..............and as this post has so many flowers, i had to have at least one blossom-against-blue sky shot, and here it is..............blissful cherry blossom on some small trees in the old village churchyard....if you stand right underneath the sky looks full of flowers.................thank you for visiting me here in my little blog space, lovely readers, and for your sweet comments........i wish you a happy sunny week with flowers and crafts to enjoy wherever you may be.........back soon xxxxxxxx

                                   *****my springtime giveaway is open until monday march 31*****

 Always at this time of year i am going in and out of the house all day to look at the garden, take pictures of it, pick flowers, and just enjoy the magical garden days of greenery and blooms.....as well as actually weeding and planting, watering, trimming back and checking for snails of course...............
 ..........indoors i have been working on commissions to be published in future months, and also having a crochet crush............i love flower cushions ( i have decided) and here is a new one, just finished.....
 ...............first i crocheted a selection of flowers, similar to primulas with yellow centres and petals in various shades but mainly pinks and reds..............then i made some simple two colour granny squares (there is a round of green (like leaves) in the centres below the flower which can be seen if the flowers are viewed from different angles)..........
 .............i used the join as you go method to join the squares together, and then sewed the flowers on............ and added a pink border.............
 ...............in between crocheting this cushion we went to visit some flower nurseries and bought some candelabra primulas................i have wanted some of these for quite a while, but i wanted to plant them next to the pond so had to wait until it was fixed..............now it is so i have begun the planting..
 ...............i love these plants with their tall upright stems and tiers of flowers.........they combine well with the grasses and reeds that also grow round, and in, the pond..............

 ............i made a plain white granny square for the back of the cushion and joined the back to the front with a pale green border around the whole outer edge........the yarn is (almost) all from the stylecraft special dk range................

 ...............besides the crochet cushion ive also finished off the little crochet bag for daisys birthday next weekend..........we have bought her some other surprises too.................
 ..................i made a crochet daisy flower for her little bag of course.........daisy herself spent a few hours with me today and we went for a walk, spotting daisies and buttercups in the fields and park, going on the swings and slide, then home for tea, reading, colouring and singing songs from *frozen*.............thanks to this movie daisy now knows the word fractals :)..............
...........i hope she likes her little bag....i made a long strap for it as she tends to favour across-the body-bags :).............the bags lining is the gorgeous colourful polka dot from pam kitty picnic......i love this fabric and its colours seem to blend in with everything i make.........i will have something else made with it to show you soon...................
 .............i was very lucky this week and had a gift in the mail myself...........this pretty summery lemony tea towel was sent to me by my dear blog friend robin from my nest of yarn and buttons......
thank you robin, it was a lovely surprise and will be enjoyed a lot :)................
 ..............one of the best things in the garden at the moment is that there are so many flowers to pick to make sweet scented posies for around the house, one of my favourite things to do, and everyone else enjoys them too.............
..............this is one of the old roses shown growing in the top picture, with the potting shed in the background, this rose bush is covered in buds all ready to open and i love it more every year..............
.............thank you for visiting me here, dear readers, i love to see you and your sweet comments are a real joy to receive too............wishing you a wonderful week with flowers and sunshine and happy crafty times..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx