Welcome to The Mouse House

I mentioned in my last post that I had booked onto a the lovely mouse making course, which takes place next week at my local craft shop but, being an impatient sort of person, I decided I would have a go at making one before the course so I could see how complicated they were and how they compare to the ones I learn how to make next week. My first attempt was made using felt from my stash and a very cute pattern from the lovely Bustle and Sew website. It's one of the most amazing sites I have found, full of gorgeous patterns and inspiration and I absolutely love getting my newsletter. You can find a link to the pin cushion mouse pdf here. 

I loved my first little mouse and I was inspired to make some more although, for my second one, I gave it a little bit of a tweak. I altered the pattern and made the nose a bit more pointy and instead of using felt, I made it from an old grey woolly jumper that I boil washed and tumble dried to turn it in to beautiful grey felt. I gave Mrs Mouse a cute little apron and I gave Mr Mouse a spiffing blue felt tie. I have to say I really do love making them, it makes a lovely change to hand sew things rather than being stuck in front of the sewing machine all the time. I have a feeling I am going to be making them quite a lot in the near future. I was running around all the charity shops like a mad thing yesterday trying to find grey woollen jumpers that I can shrink :-) ..... nothing new there actually, I'm a master at shrinking jumpers whether they need to be shrunk or not, it's why I buy all my clothes several sizes too big, because no matter what I do, I seem to shrink everything :-) I also nipped into the craft shop to have a sneak peek at the lovely mouse display that's advertising the course ..... I'm so looking forward to it. 

I've been making a few new things for my market stall. I made some more little wooden boats because, amazingly, I sold almost all the ones I made last time so I made 4 more and have cut out several more ready to paint at the weekend.

My jig-sawing is getting better and anyway, the boats are supposed to be rustic. I like the fact that they aren't all the same size and shape and the fabric bunting and sails are fraying a little at the edges.

I also made some cute little lavender dogs. It's nice to make different things, it gets quite tedious making the same thing over and over again.

The weather is now turning chilly here in Cornwall, it was 6 degrees this morning when I went off to the shops and when I got back, I lit a fire. I love my open fire, I love the way it makes the whole room feel cosy and now, I am going to sit and have a lovely cup of tea and get ready to watch The Great British Bake Off in about an hour. Bliss 

All Change

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. It's been hectic here in Cornwall. My youngest daughter has gone to university and it's been chaotic with all the sorting and packing and deciding what to take and what to get rid of. Trips to the recycling centre and to various charity shops to donate things too goood to throw away and then a very long day last Sunday when we drove her up to Uni. A 500 mile round trip and 13 hours of travelling and room sorting and a fair few tears when we eventually said goodbye. I guess from now on it will be just me and the menagerie. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Sad mostly but happy that she seems to be enjoying it for the most part. My middle daughter is stayed with me til Thursday, which was lovely but now I'm on my own. Weird. It's not as if I haven't been on my own for a long time now but for some reason this feels different. Still, it doesn't do to mope and wallow so best get on with things. 

Quick ..... change the subject before I start to blub!!!

I got a rude awakening last week at the market when one of the stall holders unpacked her things and they actually included some Christmas things! This lady has been doing craft fairs and market stalls very successfully for a long time and loath as I am to admit it, I have to bow to her knowledge and experience and concede that maybe it's time to start making Christmas things for my stall as well. With this in mind, I nipped to the wood shop and grabbed some planks because I have an idea to make some little wooden Christmas trees. Quite rustic with distressed green paint and garden twine garlands tied with little red and green jingle bells. or maybe painted white with silver and gold bells and maybe a little wooden star on top. And Christmas stockings. I had planned to make some last year but never really got round to doing them. It kind of caught me on the hop last year so I'm starting now in order to get a jump on it this year.

I have also booked onto a really lovely course. It's only a one day course but it's to learn how to make some really cute little mice. Here is a link to the ladies facebook page. I can't wait. We will be making some of these cute little chaps. If you live anywhere near Liskeard there might be a couple of places left.

 Sooooo gorgeous :-) watch this space for some pictures from the course.