Daisy Chains by Natasha.....Come inside and take a peek .....

Hope you have had a good weekend? We have had a lovely, good old fashioned  family day today. We went and bought the little men a bike each (the first ones that they have ever had) and then went to the field with Lily ( our cairn terrier) to teach them how to ride. Lily thought it would be great fun to chase them both whilst they were practicing to ride. So I had to make her come and sit by me, otherwise a possible disaster might have occurred!  Both boys did really well, more practice tomorrow!We then topped the day off with a lovely BBQ  and a cool, crisp glass of white wine (adults only!). But it was too windy for a BBQ, so we cooked the  food in the oven instead - to be quite honest it tasted much better! (Don't tell hubbie).

                         I have finally finished my other 1940s chair, I now have a pair!

I have one sat in my lounge and one in the corner of my conservatory. They certainly look a lot better, but I have to admit that the painting is not perfect - there are slight blobs of paint that have run, on the bottom parts of the chairs. But you do have to look very closely to see them. I am very pleased with them despite this!

I am currently making some handmade wedding invites for a very good friends sister. They knew just what they wanted, but were having trouble finding someone who could put it all together, so I offered. This is one of the samples. They definitely want the image, teal ribbon and all the other trims but I put a few different ideas together for them to choose from. I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.  I am also printing the wording on the inside and putting it all together. So, if you or anyone you know are getting married and would like that "handmade touch" to their invites then send them this way! I will post the final design on my next blog to show which design the bride chose.

Right what else have I been up to?

We have a 1986 camper van called Dora the Explorer. We bought her a few years ago but this year we have decided to renovate her inside and out. My hubbie has been spending  most his evenings and some of the weekend lovingly welding her up and adding new panels - hoping she will pass this years MOT. Once we over come one problem we find another. There is still a lot of work to do on her. We have a leaky roof which desperately needs sorting, along with rather a lot of rust.We are also going to be painting her white as we are not to keen on the beige colour she is at the moment. Would you like to take a sneaky peek inside her?

This is the lounge area which also converts into bunk beds. I have just spent the last couple of weeks making new curtains for her as I have chosen a red, white and blue theme for the interior. I am currently crocheting a granny stripe blanket which will eventually cover the whole of the back seat. (see below)

I have a long way to go but I try and crochet a row a day at least! It has approx. 350 stitches across, and 111 separate clusters in each row!

Here are all the curtains, tie backs and even a decoupage lampshade made from the left over material from the curtains. A weeks worth of work, which I am quite glad to see the back of as the curtains became a bit of a chore towards the end!!

This is what the original shade looked like until I messed about with it a bit. Boring, plain and very white - not to my liking! Until now.......

I added scraps of the left over gingham fabric and then  added a couple of large union jacks and smaller ones cut  out from a metre of ribbon. Once this was all glued on I added some gross grain ribbon around the top and then covered  it all in diamond glaze to give it the sheen, and to keep the fabric on the shade. I then finished it off with some red buttons and red pom pom trim. Quite patriotic I think! You can see it hanging pride of place in the pic below.

This is the dining area (see the lampshade?) To the left is the kitchen. This area turns into a double bed at night. I invested in this gorgeous red and white spotted oil cloth, as I thought it went rather well with my red, white & blue theme. I've also added a couple of crochet cushions which I have made, oh, and some union jack bunting!

These are the cushions that I have crocheted myself .You can just make out the round one in the picture above.

On the theme of cushions I just had to show you this one. I am ashamed to say that this is not my handy work, but the work of a very clever lady who lives in Denmark,  Birdyheartsbuttons  (click the link to take you to her Facebook page). I chose the colours, materials, and the wording via FB and she did the rest. Not only was she extremely lovely to deal with, she even sent me an extra gift (see pic below). She makes a lot of different, lovely items so if you want something extra special go and pay her a visit.

I have this hanging in the kitchen area of Dora. Isn't it cute????

I just had to introduce you to Dora's travelling sock monkey mascot - another little thing I made. I think she fits nicely in with the theme as she was made from (brand new!) Union Jack socks. Just one more item to show you regarding Dora then I will move on - promise!

I have bought this outrageous wallpaper to put onto the inside of the back door and inside all the cupboards. Don't you think its fab? We are going to freshen up the inside walls with a coat of white paint (I don't want to  over load on colour) and hopefully have blue and white vinyl tiles on the floor. That is if I can find somewhere that's stocks this colour, as so far I have only found black and white tiles. Let me know if any of you know a good stockist.  Hope you can picture what she will eventually look like? Right that's all on Dora for the moment but I'm sure as more gets done to her you will be hearing more about her! We are going away in her for 2 weeks in August, I soooooo cannot wait!

Today, apart from the above I have also tarted up my Nan's shopping basket........ We used to pop to the local shop and buy sweets and a few bits we needed and pop it all in this shopping basket. Or, my Nan would cook my Grandad a hot meal for his lunch, and we would pop it in this basket and take it up to him in the signal box at Berwick station (VERY happy childhood memories).
I want to use it for my current crochet projects but I thought it needed an update. I painted it in the same porcelain blue paint that I have done my chairs in, and have made a padded lining for it. Its all done and I LOVE it!! I am going to be really mean now and make you  wait to see the finished pic so that you come back and visit me next time, hehe. Have a lovely week, Natasha xxx