Blank canvas

Take a pair of plain canvas pumps,

Some patterned cotton fabric

and ring the changes

I saw the idea in Prima magazine and they are so easy to make.
Measure the length of the original laces and add 2cm.  Cut out fabric this length by 4cm.  Press under 1cm on all edges, press in half lengthways and stitch round the edge.

I find it hard to press under a small amount like 1 cm on a long edge so I just press in half first then fold the outer edges into the middle and pin before sewing.  I also always have trouble stitching a short edge at the start because they bunch up under my pressure foot, so I sewed the laces starting somewhere on a long edge finishing at the short end then turning it round and sewing from the same place again to the other end.

When I'd finished all three pairs and saw them together, it took me right back to my childhood

Nothing to do with laces, it was the colours.
When I was a kid I loved rings and built up quite a collection.  Mainly out of lucky bags, but the corner shop had a selection of kid's rings on a tray (the ones with expanding bands).  I eventually got three of the same ring in different colours.  They had a large coloured 'pearl' in the centre - in pink, lilac and blue, just like the laces.    I thought I was the bees knees wearing them!

Holiday!

If you saw that title and started singing Madonna's 'Holiday' then you're a woman (or man) after my own heart (and now you won't get it out of your head!).

I've been on holiday for a week to Jandia in Fuerteventura.  
Lazing by the pool

 Walking along the gorgeous beach

There were some friendly ground squirrels

It would have been too hot for me but there was a lovely breeze which was very welcome.
I could never live somewhere so hot (and I'm talking about 27/30 degrees which some of you will think is just warm!), from the airport to the hotel the landscape was very barren.  These photos were from the coach

This is the welcome sight of the English countryside from the aeroplane window when we came home.

Oh how I love our lush greenery!

It's a cover up

This dress cost me £1 from a charity shop.   I love how the body part is stretchy and ruched, so it's figure hugging but is also very forgiving, then it flips out at the bottom giving great movement for my Modern Jive.   The only problem was, that it had narrow straps which showed too much of my skin for my liking - (you'll have to imagine that because I forgot to take a before pic)  so I fashioned some floaty sleeves out of a bit of sheer black fabric I had, and voila!

April 2014 Photo Scavenger Hunt

I'm so sorry it's been such a long time since my last post, but I've had all sorts of problems with my computer and blogger.  Hopefully back to normal now and I'm joining in again with Made with Love's photo scavenger hunt (although a little late for April).  I'm not risking changing the size of the photos so please click on them to enlarge

A is for?

Alarmed!  I don't know who is more alarmed; the statue or the bird

11 am

I've been away to Barcelona for a few days with my daughter and at 11 am on the first morning we took a walking tour of the city.  

Smooth

Scale

The roof of this house that Gaudi designed in Barcelona is supposedly a dragon's back covered in scales

Tile

Gaudi used lots of broken tiles in his work

Logo

Scrap

Match

Path

Layers

Our two trusty egg layers, Olive and Bree, scratching about on the compost heap

Carry

Truck

Other entries can be seen over at Made with love

Happy Christmas...

I hope you all have a very happy Christmas!!!

Really?

I came upon this sign recently which had me puzzling.

I think it goes without saying that plants are slow moving (a few inches a year is slow in anyone's book) but I wonder what there is about this particular plant to be wary of?

Similarly I think the person in charge of safety for this water filled hole in the ground didn't want to take any chances.  Putting a sign up saying no diving or swimming is in my opinion just asking for people to try it; which is probably why they covered it with a metal grid and put a fence round, just to be on the safe side.  Though why anyone would want to dive into a four foot square hole is beyond me, and what kind of swimming could you do in something so small?

When I saw this sign from the other end of a shop last summer I wondered what they were selling, and why weren't they a bit more discreet!

It also seemed very strange as it was a Homebase DIY store

Closer inspection revealed that it was a section for weed killer.
The 'd' from the end of 'weed' was on a separate panel which presumably should have been displayed next to this one, but in this particular store it was on an adjacent wall and with a doorway in between!

November 2013 Photo Scavenger Hunt

As usual Greenthumb over at Made With Love has organised the photo scavenger hunt.  Here are my interpretations for this month

Gold

A statue of Matthew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch in Birmingham

5

(you might have to click on this to see it properly)

Patterns

Everywhere I looked I saw patterns on buildings in Birmingham, so I've included a few here

Bread

thrown for the ducks

Happiness

This duck looks very happy

Rain

Traffic

Boxes

Staircase

Leading up to a disused rail track which is now a footpath

Sunset

Park

Pair