18.2.15

Pancake day

pancake day
Here in the U.K. yesterday it was Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake day. On my pancakes I have always been a sugar and lemon girl! This year we also had some Maple syrup because I have been stocking up on ingredients for making receipes from my Deliciously Ella book. And wow, Maple syrup is like liquid gold currency isn't it!

I used:-

150g plain wholmeal flour
150ml milk
30g sugar
1 egg

ta daa!
 And here it is.....my pancake made on my Mum's little crepe pan. Cooked in a little butter, it's really so easy using one of these. I just need to get one of those little wooden pushing things, which I'm sure has a name!

It was really rather lovely, but I couldn't help thinking about Nutella!

So what did you have? did you remember?


ps. not a sponsored post!

17.2.15

mother's day love hearts

mother's day love hearts by my little red suitcase on etsy
Okay well I have been going a bit heart mad here making hearts, I'm enjoying myself, and that's a good thing. I don't have my lovely Mum anymore, not in body anyway. She is and will always be most sorely missed. The daily phone call of sharing what's happening in our world, and our devoted follower of life's ups and downs. Someone to call and say 'I'm back' after a long journey. Someone to drink tea and eat cake with in favourite cafe's. My listener, supporter and all round ground holder.

I would always find a little something heart shaped to give her on her birthday or christmas or for celebrations. I would look out for red hearts, because red was her favourite colour, whether it was chocolate or a glass bauble or a card. I actually think she started the tradition, by giving me a red velvet heart cushion, which I still have today.

Anyway I will dedicate these love hearts to her and the spirit of her mothering. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I have made these hearts bigger than before, as they should be of course! Each heart comes attached to a blank white square card, with an envelope for sending. The heart can then be taken off and dangled wherever feels a good place to see it!

I can send the cards by first class post, which for the U.K keeps the postage quite low. Because of the depth of the crochet, it doesn't quite fit the guidelines for letter depth for international post, so I would need to send as a small parcel. This costs a bit more. I'm going to think about what else I can do to keep the postage down.

Oh yes, in the middle is a lovely chunky cotton reel I brought at the vintage flea market in Ludlow on Sunday. I thought it might make a nice prop! I have to take the teen here now again to meet his Dad. It's the half way point, seems as he has now moved to North Wales.  I am gathering photo's, it's a lovely town and I will do a post about it sometime.

Have a good week, if you would like a card they are in my sHoP.

♥     

14.2.15

sweet Valentine

'sweet Valentine' by my little red suitcase
Good morning all you lovely people, a Happy Valentine's day to you! Whether you are with loved ones or just loving yourself up today....do something nice today. ♥ ♥ ♥

I have landed down to earth with a gentle bumpity bump this week. On my last post I was flying high, in a slightly blissed out state, due to feeling so much better. Well a few things here and there and from around the web, reached in and brought me, I have to say, just gently back down to earth.

Serendipity by the lake
There were a few walks by the water and a few gentle tears and there I was with my feet back down on the ground and feeling focused again, and you know what, that ground feels pretty good.

in the heart of the tree!
Now where's that little dog?.... Oh there she is, can you see the heart?.....

♥ ♥ ♥

At home I have been making more hearts, and trying to work out the settings on my camera. I left things too late to make Valentine hearts, again!.....Mothers day is looking optimistic, I'm just waiting for some card and envelopes to arrive, but I might also have to think that through again.

'special Mum' by my little red suitcase
I will be popping some like this into my shop if anyone's interested.

Lastly, I thought I would show you today's revelation......

revelation!
Yep, you guessed it.

vintage pillowcases

They will all be going in the washing machine and freshened up. Should I put them my shop, do really need this many?!...oh the joys of thrift.

Have a lovely day.

♥ x ♥ x ♥






7.2.15

life lessons and inspiration...

sunlight and daffodils
Thank you for all your kind words on my last post about my poncho!

The above photo is really the sunniest I could find this week. The daffodils were given to me by one of my hardy cabin folks on the day of her three year anniversary of living here. Which is really rather sweet considering right now she wakes up to this in the morning.

a cold and frosty morning
It looks freezing doesn't it, but she seems to like it and be able to cope! I think it toughens you up. I feel quite spoilt living in the house sometimes.

frosty!
It's been a strange old week here. A week of the most intense sensitivity and soul searching. Which has just suddenly lifted and moved on, leaving me wondering what happened, where it went.

I talked about sensitivity in my finding my way through January post. I wanted to know what it wanted? well I had a light bulb moment after that. It's really quite simple, it wants me to make a boundary. Well of course you might think. But it's just never been that obvious to me. So when I feel like that, I need to make a boundary. It could be with someone, or within my environment, or even with nice people. The point is, it needs to be heard and not ignored.

Sensitivity has been there all week. I saw my mentor and then felt so overwhelmed all I could do was go home and curl up on the floor next to the radiator in a kind of den with my dog. But you know that's what I needed to do, and I felt better for it than if I had tried to carry on. Sometimes things speak really loudly so that they can be heard. Sometimes I'm not so good at listening. For me it's a kind of struggle with processing, which can easily lead to overwhelm. I think my son struggles with the same thing but copes with it in a different way.

It's been the lesson of this winter for me. So I will learn to make boundaries when I need to. Stop and change things if sensitivity starts to make itself heard. This is a huge life lesson for me. Which is why I'm sharing this here.

sunlight and tiny glass bottles ♥
I need to make friends with sensitivity because it has much wisdom and insight to impart, and that's a good thing.

And so I'm listening, and something seems to have suddenly shifted. I'm looking around at the things that inspire me again, the things that uplift me. I want to connect. I've spent a bit of time bringing facebook to life again. My personal and mylittleredsuitcase page. Made some old connections, remembered a part of who I used to be. In a good way. In a boundaried way, that I feel comfortable with, and with folks who make me feel comfortable.

My most inspiring and uplifting thing this week has been discoveringthis track by the singer Laleh a Swedish singer.

I love the dancing. Something about it touches me deeply. The tears flowed in a good way. I just keep watching it. The body is a vehicle of expression. I want to be a dancer. Still! My soul is dancing with them. Please watch!



PS. Also I have popped some new things in my SHOP!

  

2.2.15

coffee and crochet and a loopy lou!

I think February is looking like being a coffee and crochet month! Since I started last months 30 day craftathon, finished items are just flying off my hook. My shop is starting to fill up again. I am wading through what needs to be finished and just looking out for some brighter days to photograph things. There is one thing that has been waiting so patiently for me to show you.


It actually all began in here, all the way back in May last year, on a day out in Bristol. I had travelled up on the train with my son and he had gone to meet friends for the day. I was wondering around the quite new to me city, looking for a pit stop and somewhere to sit and cast on my new project. This sign in the city center called me in,  I liked the sound of the 'lush coffee' the 'banging salads' and the comfy sofas!


The vintage decoration inside ticked all the right boxes, it was vibey, full of students, vintage clothes were for sale. I was served by a guy wearing baggy jeans, a jumper from the eighties and the kind of curly hair do which left me thinking he might have been my boyfriend from 1986!.... I love the way vintage now includes the 1980's as well.

 

I sunk down into one of the eighties black leather sofas and tried to look inconspicuous amongst the students. With the Blackcurrent Frangipani cake and the 'lush coffee' for company I cast on for my Loopy Lou. I figured crochet was kind of vintage looking anyway.....!  This was the first time I had ever followed a longer pattern. Initially I cast on with the wrong colour, and then had to begin again. I tried to rush through without reading it properly, lessons were learned! I used a too small cochet hook as well, and then had crochet really loosely from that point on. Also if the pattern is a repeat you need to make sure you have read it correctly otherwise you will have to keep repeating the mistake you have made! So yes slow down, take your time and you can make this,


I choose the dark green because I had quite a large amount of green merino wool to use up, and then I added in the softer colours. I decided to make the poncho longer so I kept on going, and going.


It's just right with jeans and boots, which is just as well because that's all I wear! I decided to finish with a simple edge rather than the 'loops', which makes it rather less loopy.


It was a hugely satisfying longer project, which spanned over about 6 months. The merino wool is soft and warm, and I think hung in such a way that it doesn't need blocking.


I also added a little label in the back so I know which is the reverse. So thank you Sandra@Cherryheart for your pattern!

And this was a little dog I saw that day, as I peeped in the doorway of At-Bristol.

beacause I had to leave mine at home!