Author Archives: Crafty Kath

A trip to Lytham

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After last night’s cycling triumphs, I was feeling rather exhausted this morning.  But it was far too lovely a day to waste, particularly as we had plans.  And with hubby having the day off work, we were able to go out and do something different.

P1050467So following my plans from previous posts, I found a low cost event outdoors with the RSPB in Lytham-St-Annes.  I’ve been a member of the RSPB for almost thirty years now and thought it’s about time we started going to the nature reserves.  This is our second one this year!!  The event was £3 per child member (£5 for non-members) and accompanying adults were free. So I’ve been sat in the sun overlooking Fairhaven Lake, while Alice and her Dad explore the mudflats of the Ribble Estuary under the expert guidance of some RSPB and WWT volunteers.  They were apparently dipping for the creatures that live in the mud, although I’m still not quite sure what they did find.

P1050460I went armed with my binoculars, notepad and guidebook, but all I succeeded in doing was hobbling to the café for an ice cream and then having a doze in the sun! After an hour or so I decided to have a walk (rather a hobble) around the lake.  I need to move about or I get stiff, but I didn’t manage very far. I did catch the ‘mud-dippers’ making pictures in the sand though and it looked like they were all having great fun. I had to have a rest before heading back to the RSPB centre. I can’t believe how tired I am all the time – breaking a bone really does take it out of you!

P1050456The Discovery Centre is a little treasure trove of information and they have loads of activities on all year round, so it’s definitely worth a visit. I’d like to come back when I’m able to walk properly as there are loads of migrating birds that come to the Estuary. And I’ve still never found a mermaids purse when beach-combing and rock pooling, after over forty years of trying!

I feel like a tiny bird...

I feel like a tiny bird…

While the others went out in a rowing boat on the lake, I took the opportunity to browse the RSPB shop and I found some beautiful scarves which will do nicely for a couple of birthdays coming up. It’s also made me think there is more scope to make my little bird cards. I think I might have a go at turning them into robins for Christmas. I’m also planning to make some more masculine owls from a number of old OS maps my husband has donated to me, so there’s plenty to be getting on with for another couple of months card-making.

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But my focus for this next week has to be hubby’s birthday. So there will be at least one crafting session and probably some baking too! I did promise I would make him a batch of biscuits to take in to work. Mmmmmm, I’m getting hungry at the thought. Now, where are we going for tea I wonder?!

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Happy summer crafting
x

Summer’s Here!

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Summer has arrived at last!  We have wall-to-wall sunshine just in time for the flying ants to invade the patio.  How I love the summer.

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Actually I generally really do love summer.  There’s nowhere nicer than a warm sunny day at the beach in the UK (in my humble opinion).  I think my broken foot is taking it’s toll though this year.  Having a hot swelling leg and foot is just not much fun .  Anyway, I’ve managed to escape outside for a bit and it’s very relaxing to feel the sun on my skin again.  It’s been too long.

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While I’m out basking, I’ve been able to catch up on some reading and I’m thrilled to say that the Provident tips calendar has now been published.  And it’s a great read.  There are loads of ideas for the summer, ranging from things to do with children, to stain removal, crafts and baking too.  So do pop by and have a look, you never know what might inspire you.  For me it’s back to some more reading and the pile of work-in-progress while Alice does some nature work for her next Brownie badge!

Happy summer crafting
x

It’s the Olympics

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I don’t know about anyone else, but I am obsessed with the Olympics.  I always get swept up in the whole spectacle of it and nothing will ever come close to the enormity of London in 2012, but this year is just amazing.  It has certainly helped cure the boredom of resting my broken foot!  Mind you, it’s also making me itch to get moving again and looking at my wasting calf muscle is making me think I might give my bike another go (once the Robocop boot has gone).

I’ve been trying to spend some time on making things for the house.  The summer is always a bit quieter for making, so it seems the ideal time to do some home décor upgrades.  My problem is I can’t concentrate on anything but the amazing performances of all Team GB over in Rio.  Every time I start something, somebody does something incredible again and I can’t take my eyes off the tv!

I was watching the diving the other night and had to undo three rounds of crochet, so I gave up in the end.  I didn’t even get anything out yesterday. I was far too nervous watching Max Whitlock, Justin Rose and Jason Kenny to even pick anything up.  It’s so fantastic how all the athletes are doing and across so many different sports too.

Cyclist Birthday Card

I’m missing the ‘dancing horses’ this afternoon as I’ve managed to tear myself away from the telly and hobble my way to town so Alice can attend a creative writing workshop.  And I’ve just discovered I’ve left my phone at home!  So I’m itching to get home to find out how the Team GB representatives have got on.  I don’t know how I’ll go on next week when it’s all over if I’ve got withdrawal symptoms now, and I’m only missing a couple of hours!

Being out for a bit has made me remember the 2012 Olympics and how I was obsessed with red, white and blue in my card-making.

Red , white and blue birthday bunting

As Team GB are doing so well again, it may be time to resurrect the patriotic colour theme, although I’m not sure if I can concentrate for long enough this week to make anything!  Hopefully I will get a little bit of time to think and pull some designs together.  I haven’t done any bunting for a while and I’ve just bought some new wash tape, so that could be another theme to follow through.Birthday Bunting Card

There’s also the Olympics theme to carry on, and sports isn’t something I’ve ever really done anything with (except a few bicycles for hubby’s birthdays or an occasional football).  I’ve always stayed away from the traditional ‘male’ style cards, so it might just be time for a change of focus – at least for a little while.

P1250047Actually that reminds me, I only have a few days to make hubby’s birthday card, and then it’ll be time to turn my attention to Christmas makes

But there’s still plenty of Olympics to watch yet, so

Come on Team GB
x

School Holiday Baking

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Well it’s been a tough first week or so of the school holidays.  It’s not much fun hobbling around with an equaliser boot when you have an active seven year old wanting to get out and do things.  Fortunately we’ve had some mixed weather here so we’ve had to stay in and concentrate on indoor activities.

I felt quiet good today so decided we could spend some time in the kitchen making some yummy treats to share with friends and family.  So we started with our trusted all-in-one sponge recipe from Delia Smith, to which we added some raisins, chocolate chips, cocoa powder and mini marshmallows.

P1250130We didn’t have any golden syrup or chocolate digestives so we couldn’t make any rocky road tray bake, so these mini cakes made up for it and are our version of a rocky road style muffin!  They certainly tasted chocolatey and went very nicely with a cup of tea.

Wile these were cooling we decided to make some scones and biscuits.  The simple Easter biscuit recipe was brought out and modified slightly as I didn’t have any lemons to zest.  I rolled out the dough a bit thicker than normal, so it made a few less biscuits than usual, but they tasted great straight from the oven and only took nine minutes!

P1250127I thought it would be nice to make some chocolate chip scones too as they didn’t take very long and could be ready to go in the oven by the time the biscuits had baked.  Not a big batch, only eight this time, but again lovely with some butter and a cup of tea.

All-in-all a good afternoon’s work and very tasty.  Time for a cuppa and a cake with a rest with my foot up now I think.

Happy crafting
x

Birthday Draw Winner

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July went by really quickly so today it was time to put all the names into the cup for my fourth birthday prize draw.

Thank you to everyone that ordered and purchased from me this month.  There were fourteen names in the cup and the winner is ……

Kate Treadwell.

Congratulations Kate.  I hope you like your prize – a set of five bird and owl cards.

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Happy crafting
x

Unexpected Setback!

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This is not how I anticipated spending the school holidays.  I’m sat on the settee having to rest because last week I broke my foot!  I can’t believe it, just as things were going really well and I hadn’t been in a hospital for over a year.  There I was at my regular tap class having a great time and practicing some steps for our ‘Mambo No5’ dance routine and the next thing I know I’m in a heap on the floor thinking I don’t want to look at my knee incase it’s a real mess.  I managed to get up and shuffle my way through the rest of the lesson but I was in some pain.  Fortunately I’d been given a lift to the class so I didn’t have to drive home.

My foot was starting to swell up but we decided it was a bad sprain, strain or twist so a couple of hours with frozen peas on it and a good sleep would cure the problem!  I hobbled my way to and from school the next day and thought I’d better get over to A&E as I hadn’t been able to do anything else all day.

They were brilliant at Fairfield Hospital and I was seen very quickly.  I had a couple of x-rays which confirmed I had broken the fifth metatarsal in the left foot (my knee was fine, not even a bruise!).  I was sent home in a cast with crutches and returned to the fracture clinic the next day where they removed the cast and gave me an equaliser boot.  At least I can put my heel down now.  Crutches are no fun at all when you have to hop!

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So I’m now trying to work out how Alice will get to do any of the adventures we had planned for the school holidays.  Moving around is getting easier, but I can’t see me hobbling to the park any time soon.

Wish me luck
x

Paint-a-Pot

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As we approach the end of the school year, we seem to be on a never ending run of parties – and not just children’s.

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What I am pleased to find is that now she’s seven, Alice’s party invitations have become a bit more adventurous than a soft play centre.  Today we’ve been at Emily’s Paint-a-Pot in Prestwich. Each child was able to choose an animal to paint and was given instruction on how to go about it. It felt far more grown up than the usual running wild amidst screaming kids of all ages! So we left them to it and had a stroll around Heaton Park before the rain set in and we headed back. The party room is upstairs and we could hear squeals of delight along with the traditional rendition of ‘Happy Birthday to you.’ They were all obviously having a great time. We stayed downstairs in the main painting room, where we had a very lovely cuppa and a look at all the drying pots. It’s a pretty little place and they don’t just cater for children. I was intrigued to see they run Pottery and Prosecco evenings. Something I quite fancy, I wonder why?!

Alice really enjoyed her afternoon. She painted a cat and can’t wait for it to be finished off in the kiln.

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It’s a great place to go on a rainy day, and while not a cheap activity, it is something different to what we generally do at home, so it’s definitely somewhere I hope to visit again. Next time I want to have a go too.

Happy crafting
x

Outdoor Summer Activities

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Since I was invited to write my blog for Provident, I’ve been spotting all sorts of other things to do that don’t cost a lot.  Of course, many of the activities are local to me in Bury, but there are plenty of national activities to get involved with too.

IMGP1267I was struck last week by an article I read in the latest Plantlife magazine. The new edition of the Oxford Children’s Dictionary has had several nature based words removed and replaced with modern technology speak. This doesn’t necessarily sound a travesty at first, but these are words like catkin, beech, fern, acorn, bluebell, buttercup and dandelion! Surely these are words that every child grows up with?! It really was a shock that they have been replaced by broadband, chatroom and blog. Isn’t it possible to have space for all of these words in a child’s dictionary? Plantlife are encouraging parents to spend more time outdoors with their children and this links perfectly (I think anyway) with the Woodland Trust’s campaign to get children to play outside. They have launched their ‘Tree Party’ campaign and you can send off for a free party pack to take on a picnic with your friends.

tree-party-montage

My pack arrived the other day and it’s great. Alice can’t wait to get outside and use it. The pack comes in a box made to look like a picnic hamper and is filled with games to play, face masks, straws, stickers, party invitations and even a bag to put all your rubbish in! The idea is that you invite a tree to your party and celebrate how important they are in our lives. I’m hoping we have some sunny days over the holidays and we can go for a picnic in one of local parks.

bury_d_treasure_2_sanvito_curved_displayIf we do get out and about, regardless of the temperature I will be encouraging Alice to have a go at a local initiative ‘Bury’d Treasure’. This is another activity to encourage children to spend time outdoors, only this time’s it’s about following clues to solve a puzzle. There are several set up around the local parks in Bury and some local primary schools have signed up to encourage their pupils to take part. I hope it’s a success and we don’t find they become targets for vandals.

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All of these outdoor activities will help with the annual summer keep active campaign run by the NHS and Change4life, the ’10 minute shake-up’. This year they have teamed up with Disney again and the free pack includes a Finding Dory poster and stickers. So we shall be aiming to do at least ten minutes of physical activity every day.

I am also hoping that Alice will be a bit more independent and I will get some crafting done while she runs, climbs, discovers and solves clues!

Happy holidays
x


www.mrscraftyb.co.uk

School Fair

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It was lovely to see so many parents and family members at school.  The fair itself was as manic as always. being straight after school it’s always very well attended.  This was the first year they’ve really invited parents to have their own stalls and it was great to see the variety of items available.  I was next to a lovely lady from Artysan Gifts who makes bespoke framed gifts. It was her first ever stall and she did really well. I wasn’t surprised as her frames are beautiful. I wonder if I can find a reason to order one for someone?!

There were two Asian food stalls and another card maker too. Fortunately we weren’t quite next to each other and our cards were very different in style, so we appealed to different tastes.

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I decided to go with a ‘name the cat’ competition in the end. It drew in quite a few of the children (and staff). He ended up with the name ‘Garfield’ and was won by a little girl from year one. I sold quite a few cards as well and some knitted and crochet items. So all in all it was a successful fair for me, as well as for the school.

I hope they invite us all back for the next fair at Christmas!

Happy crafting
x

4th Birthday

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I can’t believe I’ve been so busy that I missed the fourth birthday of HandmadebyKatherine.  Well, the website and this blog anyway.

Pink Birthday Flower

Pink Birthday Flower

It’s quite amazing when I think back that four years ago I was working a full-time job into part-time hours and looking after Alice (only 3).  In some ways it seems like yesterday and in others it’s a whole lifetime ago.  I never thought my life would work out being a full-time Mum, housewife, school governor and crafter, but I guess if you keep at it then anything is possible.

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In celebration of this momentous occasion I’m going to have a little giveaway.  Anyone placing an order and/or making a purchase from me in person, via facebook, website or e-mail during the month of July (1st – 31st), will have their name entered into the cup and I will draw a name out at random on August 1st.  The prize will be a collection of five handmade birthday cards.  Keep an eye over on my facebook page for more details of the prize and Good Luck.

Happy Birthdays
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