Thank you giveaway.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

 Hello all. At last it's giveaway time. YAY! It's my way of saying thank you for taking time to read my little blog and especially for leaving all of your lovely comments. Don't underestimate the power of a kind word, I don't share my 'down' times on my blog as this is my happy place. This is the only little corner I have any control over and I like to keep it as rose-tinted as possible but recently small parts of my life have been unfairly 'overcast', so to tippety-tap into blogland and have such lovely feedback from you all has been a real tonic. I appreciate the time you take out of your busy day to say a few kind words that make my days so special. Yep, you make me smile, you make me chuckle but most of all you make me feel that my craft and artwork has value. Thank you. 

So I've made something especially for this giveaway.

One of my most popular 'makes' but this one is a little different.

I hope you like her as much as my normal embroidered bunnies. She's made from the most gorgeous Sanderson fabric. I discovered a small piece folded up in the bottom of a basket and quickly snaffled it up as if it was a Faberge egg at a car boot sale.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this pretty bunny is to leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Simple, just let me know you'd like to re-home this bunny. There are no hoops to jump through.

II

Best be sharpish if you fancy your very own Easter Bunny!

I'm not telling you how long you have ;)

Once again thank you all.

love  Fi x

Hens-a-Helping.

Hello once again from beautiful Yorkshire. I love this view. When I see this view I relax as it means our journey is almost over and our little village is only a couple of 'bends' away.

 Today I wanted share a bit of Springtime sunshine with you and see who'd been helping out in the garden. Yes today the stars of the show have to be our hens!

They're very conscientious and hard working, helping to turn over the soil in the veg beds.

 They think nothing of giving the shed the once over to make sure all is in order.

Whilst all the time putting others needs before their own. This is Cluck who has very kindly put her dust bathing in damp mud on hold to spend some quality time with Wonderful Man and make sure he's not over doing it in the garden.

 Here she is having a little cuddle. It's a good job he doesn't mind a bit of muck! Grubby, muddy hen.

Times up! That's enough. Must get back to work! Now just for that tricky dismount...

 Whoops! lol.

 As for me...well I was busy too. More pretty bunnies taking shape.

These two are now somewhere deep in the USA.

.

I haven't forgotten my little giveaway. I still haven't decided what it will be yet. Easter is fast approaching though so that just might make up my mind for me.

till next time

love fi x

Hi all, there's been much bustling about in the attic this past week.

 I've had orders for vintage linen bunnies.

I made these two from some beautifully embroidered linen

 There are some very delicate stitches.

 And some very pretty colours.

 With co-ordinated buttons.

 And gorgeous floral Liberty fabric ears.

It's a little bit sad they won't be staying together, but I know they'll both be loved very much in their new homes. Now they're finished I shall turn my attention to mulling over a little giveaway. 

Till next time and results of my 'mulling'.

love Fi x

A magazine article and an owl...or two.

Hello all. It's been an odd week this week. Some good days, some productive days, some really crappy days, some very hectic days, and some relaxed family days. Very much a mixed bag. 

The little dumpy owls are the result of my productive day. 

 Evolved from my fat birds which everyone thought looked like owls anyway. I decided that I better go with the flow and actually design them to look as much like owls as I could instead of a owlishly looking bird. Let's hope they as popular as their predesessors!

 So with a bit of tweaking and adaptation I've created a snuggly little handful. They're filled with wheat which gives them a little bit of weight and the option to gently warm them in the microwave for a comfort cuddle. 

They're a quite addictive.

 and take over quite quickly.

On my good day, I received a virtual copy of the March issue of Bustle and Sew Magazine from Devon Bear who had very kindly asked if she could write an article about MarmaladeRose. The result was a lovely little piece featuring little old me as her blog of the month. Thank you sweetie. 

Gosh they get everywhere those owls.

Till next time

love Fi x

PS. I'm going into the kitchen now for a silent scream. It's taken me hours to write this post because Blogger it appears has been tweaking too. Why can't they leave things alone AAAARGH!

Would you believe those pesky hens!

Look at this lovely bowl full of free range eggs all laid by our beautiful girls. Yes laid by our beautiful girls, not in our hen house though, no... in our neighbours hen house! For weeks now we've only be getting one egg a day sometimes none at all and the reason being that they've all been trundling off to the other side of the bank to lay their eggs in another hen house! Our neighbour who's a bit of a 'fair weather' hen keeper discovered them all yesterday in her coop. Goodness knows how many days they've been going over there! Pesky hens. hmmmpf!
This one is much less trouble though.

She looks very sweet but not too bright.

Oops! I think she took offence at that last comment.

I think I might have offended them all!

Looks like they've sent me to Coventry ;)

I've had a little break from hen handling today and made up some of my greeting cards. 

Anyhow time for bed now, early start in the morning.

Fi x

Maybe we'll have some cushion love next time.

Following Fat Birds, Fat Hens.

You know how we love our hens here in the MarmaladeRose household, you might even spy a pesky hen in the background of this photo. Please keep it to yourselves though as that pesky hen is actually in next doors back garden, oops! And the lady next door doesn't like hens in her back garden, even bigger oops! To be honestly honest we're not the terrible neighbours that you might think as that pesky hen isn't actually ours. No it belongs to another neighbour but likes to live in our hen house with our girls (obviously giving them a bad name by association). Wonderful Man and I will catch her later when she's not looking and clip her wing, that should do the trick.
These little fat hens on the other hand are very well behaved. They evolved from my fat bird design and are filled with wheat so they can be gently warmed in the microwave and cupped in your palm all toasty and warm.

I don't think Lady Gaga is too sure though. I think she sees them as competition or maybe she can just smell the wheat and sees them as lunch!

You've heard the saying about things snowballing...well here's a  larger hen to make a fabby doorstop.
OO! They look like they're sat having a good old gossip, lol.

Oops! I think one of them heard me!

Fat Birds Rule.

Meet 'Fat Bird'.
When inspiration strikes you've got to just go with the flow before it evaporates.
So thinking caps were donned and much sketching ensued.

Many prototypes were designed and made and abandoned, then even more head scratching followed.

Fabric was measured, cut, stitched and snipped. Pencils were chewed and tongues stuck out in concentration.Much mess was made as well as chaos organised, I daren't show you the heap of stuff on the floor and the bed.And eventually little 'fat birds' were born and somehow evolved into owlets.

Just large enough fill the cupped palm of your hand and full of wheat should they need to be gently warmed in the microwave to keep those hands cosy.

I don't think this is the last we've seen of fat birds or maybe even fat other things yet.

And in a nod to the date today I managed to fit in a bit of 'yarnstorming' here and there in the village.

Wishing you a happy Valentines Day.

fi x