Jubilee Fever

Isn't this weather just so beautiful!!!! 

After all that rain we had, one of our fields flooded, the poor cows were all stuck on one little dry patch, I was coming back from the shop one evening and I had to stop and take this picture - it just looked so beautiful. The field is dry now after all the lovely weather we have been having and the cows have a dry home once again!

Well I'm getting a bit of a Jubilee magpie at the moment, anything with a crown or Union jack on it and I feel I have to buy it, it's actually getting a tad ridiculous but nevermind! 

                                                       Oh and not forgetting my lovely Emma Bridgewater Jubilee mug :) 

 Have been suffereing with a bad neck so not done alot of crafting this week.

However last week I did make some Jubilee clothes for my girlies (told you I was obsessed)

They are both made from the lovely Makower London fabric that I posted a little while ago. I used a tutorial on the skirt from MADE which you can find here - I love Dana's creations!

Now this tunic - I completely winged it and made it up as I went along, and it turned out too small. I'm hoping I can let the arms out a bit as the holes are too small, and then hopefully it will be okay!!

I had a wedding cake and cupcakes to do last week, and it was such a beautiful colour scheme - sage green. The colour on the cakes looked so sophisticated. The weather was lovely too for the happy couple :)

 

 I finally ordered the rest of my yarn to get my blanket finished, I feel like it's been going on for an age! I had a bit of a nightmare as my usual online stockist didn't have any more of one of my colours so I had to search the web in a panic trying to get some for a decent price instead of £5 p/50g (I begrudge paynig that for yarn!!) I managed to find some on Ebay, so I have no excuses now!!

Hope you all have a great Bank Holiday weekend and enjoy your Jubilee celebrations, we dont have anything planned as yet.... I do have the bunting up though ;)

Take care all,

Leanne

x

Crochet mad.....

I really am terrible at keeping this up to date aren't I?

What is up with this weather?! I think there has only been 2 days in the past month that it hasn't rained, it's getting depressing now. 

Since my last post I have been crocheting like crazy, I taught my lovely friend Charlotte and now she is also an addict. 

I made these lovely coasters from a pattern on LuLu Loves, you can find it here

They were so easy to make, very satisfying and quick to make if you are an impatient pants like me. I like to crochet on the bus to work (which results in weird stares from young people and lots of old ladies talking to me) and I found I could make one on the way and one the way back. I made so many of them that I was going to make them into some sort of blanket or table runner, but then I decided to join them all together with a chain stitch in a contrasting colour to make a garland for my kitchen window. I'm so pleased with it, and I love the way the light shines through the little holes! 

So my blanket is coming along nicely, but I do need little projects like the coasters to do in between to keep me from getting bored!

 Here it is so far.....

I have joined 4 squares together and edged with treble crochet, then joined those squares together (told you I was impatient, I have to be able to see some progress otherwise I lose interest) So there are now 5 big squared joined together. I need to do 2 more rows like this then will join them all, so will be 5 big squares long by 3 big squares wide. Then I will do a treble crochey edge around them all and maybe some little fancy bobble edging. Am looking forward to finishing it, I have 32 more little squares to make....!

I found another little project to keep me going in between - I loved the coasters and the petals around the edge so I wanted to make something a bit bigger - I saw a rug on Instagram which I loved and wanted to make something similar. The kind lady who made it pointed me in the right direction, it originated from Finland and it was a bit of a faff finding the pattern. When I did find it, it didn't make that much sense and I had to unpick it a few times - it started to curl inwards like I was making a hat, so I tweaked the pattern and wrote my own variation out. I am so pleased with it!! I can see me making lots more :) 

 

It looks so lovely with something on it too

Well my littlest is really enjoying pre-school, so that's really good - she only goes for 2 hours though so it's not really long enough for me to actually get anything done. In September she will be going for a couple of full days though so I can either do some extra hours at work or just faff about at home doing not a lot!! 

My biggest  girl started ballet a couple of weeks ago and loves it, she's not known for her coordination bless her!! She will also be starting horse-riding soon hopefully!! 

Our little holiday is getting closer, am really looking forward to getting away!! 

Bye for now :)

Leanne

x

Instagram Addict & A Bit Of A Waffle......

Sorry haven't been about, not sure where the days are going at the moment!! 

I trust you are all well?!

I've recently got a new iPhone and have disovered Instagram, which I am completely addicted to, so all my pictures will be in Instagram now.... I think it just makes them look so much better :D :D 

So I have been very very busy lately with squares for my new sofa blanket, I think I need to make around 80 in total.....and I'm not even a 1/4 of the way there!!

 

My littlest girl started pre-school this week and man did I cry!! I was literally on the verge of uncontrallable hysterics. She went in absolutely fine but it was still upsetting. She had some problems when I was carrying her, I'll try and explain it as best and short winded as I can! At my 20wk scan they discovered one of her lungs was full of cysts, the medical term was called Congenital Cystic Adenematoid Malformation (CCAM for short) but we wouldn't know the severity of it until she was born. We had to keep going for regular scans to see how the cysts were developing and if they were putting any strain on her heart, cue heart specialists from Great Ormond St and top consultants at our local hospital, which we are very lucky to live so close to - Addenbrookes is such an amazing hospital. Anyway I was scanned right up until my due date, and they said it was growing but not faster than she was. So anyway I was all ready for a natural birth but she was late, so I had an elective c section, and she was absolutely fine. We stayed in hospital for one night and then came home. At 8 months old she had an opration to remove the lower lobe of her lung as it was thought the cysts may become cancerous. The 6 hours she was in theatre were the worst six hours of my life (they told me it would only take 4 hours) and leaving her to go down there was THE hardest thing I have ever done, it was the first and only time I have ever had a panic attack. So she came up and was fine, a bit puffy but okay. There were a few complications with the operation but they sorted it in the end. She was put on intensive care for a couple of days, and I can honestly say that that ward is the most dreadful place. So so many poorly children it breaks your heart. She was meant to be sedated for 12 hours but woke up and was trying to pull the tube out of her throat and chuck herself off the bed :) 

So going through all of that was pretty horrific, and to see her all grown up going to pre-school is just such a big milestone, and if I'm honest, it's one I had almost considered we would never reach. 

Sorry to have waffled there!!

 

Do you like my mini paper bunting? I shamelessy pinched the idea from Lucy at Attic24 who is a major inspiration to me! 

I shall share with you a few more Instagram pics I think :D

 

These are a couple of little keepsake boxes I picked up for next to nothing from HomeSense (I think they were Valentines stock) I love that place, such bargains!! 

 

This is some writing I have above my sofa - for anyone who doesn't know - "Cwtch" is Welsh for "cuddle". They are just letters bought from Hobbycraft and painted to match my colour scheme, then stuck on with blu-tac. High tech, I know.

 

This is my lovely old sewing machine, I dont use it, I just like to look at it. I picked it up for a tenner from a charity shop!! What a bargain :) 

Now for some cake pics, which aren't instagram (boooooo)

 

A sleepover cake 

 

 Russian Doll cake!! 

I haven't done many cakes lately, so I have been enjoying it alot more. Now I work part time the pressure is off so I dont need to earn as much from it, so am not needing to do as many orders. And the extra money on top is very handy for things like new fabrics.......

This is the newest range of Makower London fabrics, I think they have sold out pretty quickly! Not sure what to do with them yet but have got some elastic to make skirts for my little girlies, so they may be getting one from this fabric!! 

Will try not to leave it so long next time :) 

Leanne 

x

 

 

 

Hello my lovelies!! Thanks for popping by on such a miserable day, I worked all weekend and the weather was beautiful (may I please state that where I work we have no windows), now I'm not at work it's horrid!! Typical. Am feeling a bit under the weather with a rotton cold looming so it's quite nice to cosy up inside really. 

So I finished my blanket! It's not as big as I'd hoped but because I made it one big blanket rather than joining squares together it was taking me ages just to do one round! So it's now a buggy / comfort blanket for my littlest girly.

I am proud of myself for getting the hang of it quite quickly, and this week I shall be teaching my friend to crochet (not that I'm even remotely close to being good enough to teach someone else, will just be the basics!!) I am now working on lots of different squares from my new 'blocks for afghans' book, some solid ones rather than ones with holes in! Am currently doing a square which is called 'lemon peel' which has a funny little bobbly effect. 

While I was upstairs taking this picture I thought I'd take some of the duvet cover I made for her bed.

 

It's a Cath Kidston fabric, it was a remnant I picked up from the outlet CK store close to where I live, I love going there and picking up some bargains!!

I love the delicate little flowers teamed with the gingham. Sweet but not overly floral!! 

This weekend I had a cake to do, and had to stay late at work so was a hectic weekend for me! I enjoyed it though and at least it gives me some more money to get saced for our little holiday we are going on in July. We are off to Dartmouth for the week, I cant wait. I much prefer holidaying in the UK, it's not too hot, you dont get sick from drinking the water, and you dont have to worry so much about getting too sunburnt ;) Although we would like to take the girls to Florida in a few years time. When my littlest starts school and I can start working full time then we can probably save up the money to go.

Here is the cake I did - I was given a picture of another cake that the custome wanted to recreate but with some different elements. The playing card cupcake toppers were also supplied by the customer. I was really pleased with the way it turned out! 

I've just put smallest girl in bed for a nap, and now I'm going to go and watch Breaking Dawn Part 1.... Eeeee!!!!! 

Leanne

x

New name...

So I decided to change my blog name, as I am moving away from cakes a bit I dont want to solely be about them!! Sorry to confuse!! Let me explain the reason for the name choice though - my late Grandmother has inspired me to craft, she was a tailoress and was always making things, I remember her knitting dresses for my dolls and I used to love looking through all the little knitting patterns she had. She used to make lovely dinners and puddings too, she was a truly wonderful lady and it makes me so sad she never got to meet my little girls as they would have absolutely adored her. When she passed away I was a teenager who didn't care about much else other than themselves, and I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt alot of the time that I wasn't a nicer Grandaughter towards the end of her life. It's for this reason I like to do the things she used to enjoy, I do enjoy them aswell but I feel I am almost making up for lost time and carrying on her legacy. So, the name - my Nan always loved robins, and whenever I see one I am always reminded of her. When I was a little girl she used to sing a song to me called "I've got sixpence", which is why I chose the blog title "A Robin & A Sixpence".

Anyway!!

We went to the Norfolk coast at the weekend and it was absolutely beautiful!! (Camera went waffy on quite a few occasions, very annoyed!) It wasn't quite the weather we were hoping for, but I would prefer it like this than blazing hot. There were so many people with dogs there! We have been discussing the idea of a dog for some time now, and seeing all these dogs made me want one even more! 

We had a lovely time walking, collecting shells and splashing in the water. Cue crying smallest girl with wet tights, and biggest girl not waiting for smallest girl resulting in more crying....!

After our little walk we went for lunch at a little cafe just at the top of the road to the beach, it was so so beautiful in there, lovely vintage crockery, knitted tea cosies for the teapots, painted tables and chairs, and a big fat yummy sausage baguette and carrot cake!! I took pictures of the lovely plates and tea cosies, but you can guess what happened. Why is it always the pictures that are the nicest?!! 

We then drove along the coast to Sheringham where we had great fun chucking the big pebbles in the sea (I was slightly scared that my biggest girl was going to knock her Dad out with a stone at one point). There are some lovely little shops but I was really proud of myself that I didn't spend any money!! 

My biggest girl has been a bit poorly this week, I wish all this illness would jog on!! Cant wait for a bit of sunshine, I thought it was on it's way but then we had a big downpour on Sunday with snow aswell?! Talk about random!!

Am back to work this weekend, but have a big poker themed cake to do aswell. Am getting up to date with my sewing too, have made my littlest a new duvet cover for her junior bed as I cant find any nice reasonably priced ones anywhere! (Will take a picture when it is in on!!) Have finished a few other bits I was needing to do, now I need to get on with my Mum's Mothers Day present, and my Easter decorations - am going to make the girls little Easter baskets this year, they get far too much chocolate without me getting them an egg, I found some Easter Eggs in the back of the cupboard from last year that had been forgotten about! I am also on the look out for a little display tree, I might have to just paint a branch for the garden and put it in a pot! If anyone knows somewhere I can get one please let me know!!

Leanne 

x

Tourist!

I went into town today, town being Cambridge. Me and my littlest walked and walked around for a long long time - I was hoping she would fall asleep but she didn't. When you have grown up somewhere and are so used to it, you really dont appreciate it's beauty. There are so many Japanese tourists in Cambridge, and I always chuckle to myself at how excited they get about Kings College, because I just dont see Cambridge like that. So today I tried to see Cambridge from a tourists point of view, studying the beautiful detail in the architecture, the beautiful green spaces and the picturesque River Cam. I took loads of photos but my camera decided to play silly buggers and half of them are no good at all. But Cambridge really is so beautiful, I should appreciate it more.

 

I do love a nice red phone box. Or 4.

 

The beautiful Kings College, I will be taking a nice walk around all of the colleges another day I think.

 

St Johns College....look at the detail! Stunning!!

Every head around the edge of this college was different. 

There are even details in the pavement!

 

The River Cam

(This is where the camera started to go waffy - I had some lovely river shots aswell - this is adding to my reasons for wanting a new fancy DLSR camera!!)

 

Some of the houses in Central Cambridge are so beautiful, I thought this little street looked very quaint!

The Porters Lodge of Jesus College - love that beautiful blossom.

I then wandered around the market and a few shops, and then met up with the lovely ladies I spoke of yesterday. So off to Yo Sushi we went.... cue Justine retching about raw eels!! My littlest was very excited at all the dishes whizzing past, and I lost count of the times she said "Wow Mummy look at this one!" 

 

She didn't eat her 'spaghetti' (noodles!) though, still a bit squiffy from her tummy bug I think. So she played on her big sister's DS, with a chopstick, as we couldn't find the stylus.....

I actually really enjoyed my food (I didn't master the chopsticks though - I used the cheating chopsticks - but then had to resort to a spoon on the end) and the dessert I had - Lemon Shortbread Cake was yummy!! 

So my blanket is coming along, I will be adding some more tonight while snuggling on the sofa. I'm not the most patient person in the world so it's taking all my willpower not to put it down and do something else!! 

Leanne

x

 

Proud Mummy Wednesday

So today was my biggest girl's class assembly, they have been doing a project on dinosaurs. Every class in the school does an assembly through the year and the whole of the primary school and all the parents from that class come and watch. They all had to make a dinosaur mask and wear dinosaur colours! My daughter read a story to the whole school that she had made up herself, and yes I did have a little cry. I was so so proud of her. So I thought I would buy her a little treat. (Funny story - we had a leaflet through the door to say a new kebab van would be opening on the high street around the corner from us - after her assembly she came bounding over, I told her I was so proud of her, she then said "As you're so proud of me, can we go to Sam's Kebab?!" Haha!!!)

Every time we have been in HomeSense and seen their lovely easter display she has wanted one of these bunnies, so I nipped in after doing my food shop to get one. I also bought her a pretty little hair band, she's such a girly girl.

 My littlest girl is still recovering from her sicky bug, she seems fine now though as she is now arguing with her sister - back to normal!! Oh and eating biscuits!! 

Tomorrow I am off on a little jolly into town to meet the lovely Justine from Emma Bear Forever, and another friend, Julie. I think we are having lunch at Yo Sushi.... I have never been there before so am looking forward to it - think I'll steer clear of the raw fish though!

Leanne

x

Tired and poorly Tuesday!

Afternoon!! Hope you all had a good weekend, mine was spent working my weekend job as usual, but this weekend I have the whole weekend off!! I am so excited about this I cant even tell you, we are going to spend some quality time together as a family and take ourselves off to the coast. Cant wait to share the photos with you! 

So this week I ordered a couple of crochet books, now that I'm a bit of an addict. I am loving the patterns in the Cute and Easy Crochet book, the pictures are so lovely, it's just hard deciding which one to attempt first! My biggest girl would like a case to keep her DS safe, so I think I will try a little purse for it to fit in to.

My littlest girl has been a bit poorly the last couple of days - she's currently laid on the sofa watching Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom while I potter about doing washing and the like. She had a nap earlier and I went out in to the garden and did a bit of tidying, raked some leaves and planted the rose bush we got in remembrance of my late Nan and Gramps. I wont share a photo yet as it's pretty boring at the moment. I also planted some peonys that I bought last month, and moved some daffodil bulbs (which are now looking a bit sorry for themselves - I'm sure I've tried to move some before and had the same outcome, which resulted in no daffodils in that part of the garden!) I tried to take apart the plastic playhouse which has seen better days but was unsuccessful, managing to break the roof and a swiss army knife in the process. It's currently laying on its side in the garden. Oops. We've not lived in this house for that long and so much work needs doing to it still, we made a start on the garden last year but we hope to get it finished this summer. 

I decided to have a little look through some old magazines today with my tea and toast - there's something about the crusts of a loaf of bread that I love, they are so chewy. I never cut my toast either, not sure if that makes me lazy, un-ladylike, or both, but I just like to eat round the edge saving the middle for last, and you cant really do that if you have triangles!! I was looking to find some new recipes for dinner - are you ever at that stage where you feel like you're eating the same things for dinner every single week?! So I was armed with a notebook to write down a few recipes I am going to try. 

'Til next time

Leanne

x

Some of my favourite cakey pictures!

                      Iggle Piggle with his boat

A suitcase cake for a lady who was relocating to Wales

                   An owl lovers cake!

             

                 A cupcake tower for a wedding

        Love heart inspired engagement cake

                      Cottage garden cake

           My Mummy's 50th birthday cake

                   Garden cupcakes

          Shabby chic style birthday cupcakes

                    

                          Floral tiered celebration cake

     Early in the morning, when the day is dawning....

                     
                          Orange rose wedding cake

   
                   Elephant lovers cake!

         
             Twin boys birthday and christening cake

   For a guy who had just returned from Egypt!

                          Fairy castle for twin girls

    Giant cupcake with a white chocolate shell

These are some of my favourite cakes I have made in the past year! Hope you like them :) 

Leanne

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