Roses, roses

This weekend has a bit of a rose theme. A few weeks ago I bought a little tin pot.  

As I'm enjoying building up a few pieces of shabby chic I decided to paint this little pot.  First I washed it in vinegar, then (at the Crafts House for our Saturday morning fix) I painted it with sealer and then some Deco Art Light Buttermilk paint.




A quick coat of spray on sealer helps to set the base coat.  Next I added some leaves with a watered down soft green colour. 







I used a soft mauve and rubbed some colour on to the roses. Full strength colour helps to highlight the petals.  Finally I added some shading in the ever-useful Raw Sienna.  I put a little disk of fabric at the bottom and gave it a final sealing coat.  





Now the paintbrushes have a more attractive home than an old glass.

I had seen a pattern to crochet some roses, so my linen yarn, with its soft sheen seemed the perfect choice. I hate my yarns bobbing about the floor when I'm knitting or crocheting so I use a cup to hold them. Yesterday my hands alighted on this sundae dish and when I put the yarn in - hey presto! A calorie free ice-cream sundae.

First I made 48 chain stitches then crocheted increasingly large petals along the chain with double crochet and treble crochet stitches.

When this is done you roll from the small end, stitching as you go.

There will be about twenty roses of various sizes on a crochet 'rope' and these will become curtain tie backs (eventually).

Our end of year play was on so I schlepped across to Makro to buy some essential junk sweeties and then hot-footed it down the A19 to set out my stall.  The play was fab (Our Day Out, by Willy Russell).  I was back home, via the local Indian takeaway - bad, bad girl - by half nine and Saturday was done.

Today has been the usual lovely round of washing and ironing.  Earlier Ben came in to test my pot was chip-proof.  It isn't. 
(Please note we now have two teeth).

John shared my curry leftovers, Steph sat in a bowl of soup, as you do, and now at nearly 7pm, I'm sitting contemplating the tea.  Something simple because I'm just about to have a severe bout of lethargy.  

Steph chose some squares from a little pack I bought at the Quilt Show and I am going to make a little 'box' for her to put in some doo-dads and geegaws. The fabric is called Lario, by 3 Sisters.

Every window and door in the house is open to let some air through.  It hasn't been 33 degrees again but it feels like it.  No quilting at the moment, but I'm itching to get on with the crochet roses.

Tomorrow it's Monday, again...... oh that relentless passage of time! Until next week then, wishing you peace and happiness.