My three favourite blogs

I thought it was time to share a little bloggy love by telling you about some of my favourites.  So grab a cuppa and come along on a blog hop which I'm sure you will enjoy.  These are in no particular order, I love them all!

The lovely Ann's blog is Polyester Princess.  She lives in Belgium and has a fantastic collection of vintage clothes.  She puts together some gorgeous outfits accessorised beautifully by vintage jewellery.  Ann loves charity shops and gets most of her clothes from them.  Her blog also tells of her travels in Belgium and elsewhere - interesting as well as wonderful to look at.  So please, if you haven't already done so, go and visit Ann.  Tell her Liz sent you!

You must visit Sheila at Life's Too Short To Iron Tea Towels.  Sheila blogs most days about the everyday events which take up many of our lives.  She's a cross stitcher and proud granny.  Sheila tells it like it is - warts and all, but her good humour ensures that her blog is fun and family-filled.

Vix, as I'm sure everyone knows, blogs at Vintage Vixen.  Another stylish, vintage clothes wearing blogger, Vix also loves charity shops where she gets some amazing pieces of vintage clothing.  Her love of India also comes through in her fabulous blog.

These are just three of the many blogs I follow and love to read.  Perhaps I'll list a few of the others another day.  Hope you enjoy this little blog hop.

Love, Liz

Roses and vintage lace

I bought some beautiful roses yesterday.  They were so delicate and pretty they reminded me of old lace.

Of course I have a wee selection of odds and ends of lace which I have kept for ages.

Why does my heart sing just looking at this lace?

I keep my lace in this lovely tin which was came all the way from Australia many years ago from a lovely blogger called Kylie who's blog was Lucy Violet Vintage.  (Don't think she is still blogging or has perhaps changed her name.  Her blog was wonderful.)

Anyway these roses and this lace have really cheered up a dark and dreary day here in Greenock where it has rained almost continuously for weeks!!!!!!! (Well, it feels like that to me!)  We have rain water coming through our dining room ceiling.  Hopefully the roofer is coming to fix loose roof slate next week.

Hope you are surviving all these storms that have been battering Britain and around the world and have not suffered too much damage.

Love, Liz

February finishes

So far, February has been a great month for cross stitch finishes!  Perhaps the awful weather has had something to do with it!

I was so pleased to finish Jane Marshall 1857.  It is a gorgeous reproduction sampler from Hands Across the Sea Samplers and is being sold in aid of rural firefighters in New South Wales, Australia.  You can read more about it here.

Love the soft colours of this beautiful sampler and really enjoyed stitching it.

My next finish was a Christmas House from Waxing Moon Designs.  Getting a good start on my Christmas ornaments this year.

Thirdly, as a wee break from my Jane Marshall sampler, I stitched up this cute little freebie from The Snowflower Diaries - Tulips With Bunny.  Isn't that little guy so cute!  There's supposed to be a border round it, but I decided to leave it out.  Tea dyed the Aida fabric myself.

Both the Christmas house and the bunny will be turned into little cushions, but I think I might get the sampler properly framed.

Hope you are managing to get some good stitchy times this month.

Love, Liz

Hello Dollies

I came across this gorgeous pattern book for dolls' clothes in my pile of vintage magazines.

There are patterns to sew and patterns to knit.

Patterns for baby dolls which are so cute!

Lots of lovely things to make for dollies.  I remember my granny making me clothes for my dolls when I was a little girl.  She was a brilliant seamstress and just made patterns up herself.  I occasionally made clothes for my dolls too.

This little booklet seems to be by designer Enid Gilchrist, from Australia and is one of a series.

Just so cute!  Did you make your own doll's clothes?

Love, Liz

New Lanark - and yarn too!

Last week we took a trip to New Lanark which is a World Heritage Site.  It is an amazing place to visit.  If you ever get the chance to go there then I can highly recommend it.

It is a former cotton spinning town and still has a working mill which you can visit.  The town was founded by David Dale in 1786.  He built the mills and housing for the workers.  His son in law was Robert Owen and you can visit his house on site.

There are loads of other exhibits, my favourites were the mill workers houses you could walk through and which were styled from different eras.  I love all those vintage kitchen items.

Of course they have a shop and I have to say that it is one of the most beautiful shops I have ever visited.  Everything is displayed imaginatively and prettily.

They sell yarn spun locally by the New Lanark Spinning Company.  The colours are amazing.  I just had to make a purchase - of course.  I'll show you the yarn I bought once I've knit something up.

It was a great day out and very interesting too.

Love, Liz