Lion Embroidery

This week I've been drawing and sewing a design of a lion after I took a photo of this litter bin on our trip to Blackpool. This one is just outside the Pleasure Beach at the side of the Noah's Ark. 

While I was pressing the design on to my fabric I managed to burn the tracing paper and fabric, twice. I don't know if my iron was having a funny moment but this one was my third attempt.

The lion measures 16cm x 12cm. I used two strands of embroidery thread for the dots and outlines on the eyes and three strands of thread for the rest.

This is the pattern that I made for the embroidery.

A Trip To Blackpool

At the end of last week when my husband and I were off out gallivanting we ended up in Blackpool. We were on the motorway headed elsewhere but when we saw signs for Blackpool we had a change of plan. 

You can see people walking on the glass floor in this pic.

We quickly found a parking spot on the sea front and set off for a wander.

(This next bit is me having a moan) ... Within about 20 minutes of walking along the front, I was really peed off and was ready for home. We were constantly harassed. Being shouted to asking if we wanted a ride on a horse and carriage ( there are loads of those about ), have a go on a game, flyers being shoved at us every few minutes, beggars sitting against the litter bins and what really annoyed me was having my way blocked by a woman trying to sell me a lucky charm. All this is in the main stretch leading to some of the big attractions like Madame Tussauds and Sea Life Centre. We had to veer off down a side street just to get away from it. I can't put what my views of Blackpool were at this point because it included a lot of expletives. It certainly wasn't like this the last time I came to Blackpool but that was over 20 years ago.

After a walk around the town centre ( very busy, lots of good shops ) we headed to the sea front. This has all had a make over since I last came. It looks really tidy now, its a massive improvement.

We went on the Central and North pier then towards the Pleasure Beach. 

On the way we saw this car parked up and had to take some photos of it to show Caleb as he is car mad at the moment. I'm not in to cars myself but even I was impressed.

After grabbing a bag of doughnuts we headed for home. 

I think that we will return with Little L when the lights are switched on as it is something that she has never seen. As a day out for only myself and Anders? Maybe in another 20 years or so. 

A Cushion Re Vamp

My Mum In Law recently bought a throw which came with two plain fleece cushion covers and knowing that she'd never use them she then passed them to me. 

This weekend I added bunting to one them using fabric scraps and a length of ribbon. I'm not sure what to do with the other cover yet.

Another thing that I made using very little fabric are these small key ring pouches using this tutorial. These are handy for me when I'm nipping off for a wander along the canal when I don't want to carry a bag for my purse. I could just pop a bit of loose change in to one of these.

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary

It's ten years ago today since Anders and I were married. Ten years sounds like a pretty long time but the years have gone by so quickly, it only seems like yesterday when we met. We've not done anything to celebrate today but Anders has tomorrow off work so we might be going out for the day.

My present from Anders was this ...

an Atari 2600. Not some thing everyone would appreciate I know but he knew I've wanted one for a while. I used to love playing on ours when I was a kid. My children had a good laugh at the graphics but still wanted to try it out. I'll have to get some sneaky practice in so I can beat them.

On a sadder note we got up this morning to discover that our chickens had gone. All that remained were a couple of tail feathers from our frizzle Pekin. No feathers off the other chickens, none in the garden at all. We don't know if someone has been in our garden and taken them or a fox has had them. I found out later on this evening that chickens had disappeared from another house two nights ago. Little L is distraught that they have gone and told us earlier that she'll never be happy again. Nothing that we say at the moment seems to be taking her mind off it. Hopefully after a sleep she will feel slightly better.

Initial Embroidery

Today I finished off this initial embroidery for Little L's room. I used this hoop as a frame because when I have used it to hold fabric for embroidery it never seems to tighten enough so I spend more time messing with the hoop than actually sewing anything. 

The back needed tidying up so I glued on a circle piece of felt using a glue gun. We just need to find a suitable spot in her room for hanging now.

A Change Of Colour

Last week I made a start on decorating our kitchen. When it comes to decorating Anders does any filling of cracks or holes then I do the sanding and painting leaving Anders the parts that I can't reach, this time behind the washer and freezer.

Its almost finished. Just a trim to go on the top of the tiles and new flooring to lay. The photo below shows the old paint colour next to the new. At first I thought that it was too dark with our kitchen being tiny but now that I'm used to it I think I prefer it to the old colour.

Fairground Fun

Last Friday evening we had a couple of hours out with Little L at a fair which had arrived about five miles away. This one always arrives in time for May Day when the town has a parade on the Saturday. I don't know how long the fair has been coming but I remember going when I was small. We decided to go in the evening as Little L has never seen a fair lit up at night ( I always think fairgrounds look quite nice at night ) and if we went on the day of the parade parking would be a nightmare and the field by that time would resemble giant mud puddle.

Its a long time since I've been to a fair myself (over 20 years). The first thing that I noticed were the prices, you need a bank loan these days. £3 for a go on Hook A Duck ! ... and I thought that you could no longer win goldfish at fairs but there they were hanging in bags. Little L spotted them straight away but I didn't cave in and let her have one. 

There were some extremely high rides there. Nothing like these existed when I was a teenager. I think the highest rides used to be the Parachutes or the Big Wheel if one was there.

Little L seemed to be more drawn to trampolines and inflatables though she had a whale of a time on the Bumper Cars with her Dad chasing other cars.

She did ask to go on the Ghost Train a few times (there were 3 of these) but I didn't think that would be such a good idea as sometimes she gets scared of Scooby Doo episodes. They are my favourite rides though because of the art work and all the dangly spooky stuff hanging from them.

Little L had an "amazing time" (her words, everything tends to be amazing or awesome these days) but I'm not sure if that was solely due going to the fair or being out past her bed time.