Stanley and the Hot Air Balloon, a review and a giveaway!

Hello everyone! 

Today I am excited to show you something lovely a very creative lady has been cooking up. 

Fabulous Kate Bruning, the mastermind behind Greedy For Colour blog, (one of my favs I have to say) has written a beautiful children's book, called 'Stanley and the Hot Air Balloon', 

and self published it, the clever thing! 

Kate makes amazing things out of yarn and a hook, I am sure many of you have been watching all the interesting and beautiful creatures and props Kate has been making over the last year or so on her blog, I have been very keen to see the finished product, and it is just as cute and wooly and magical as I expected!

Not only has she written a lovely story about Stanley rabbit, she has created a whole crocheted world in which he inhabits. I just love Kate's crocheted mini world, it is so full of details and little bits of fantastic crocheted ephemera, so beautiful!

I love how the fonts are different and colourful,  and the dreamlike quality to Stanley's world really makes me want to create a crochet mini world as well!

There is also a section at the back full of crafty patterns to make a Stanley rabbit of your own and a hot air balloon and other cute things from the story.  This is perfect, as the story really made me want to make my own Stanley and balloon.   Definitely on the to do list.  They would make lovely presents for little people (or big people too!).

I can imagine a whole flock(?) of balloons dangling around my house, I think it would be quite a lovely sight.

Here are a few of the pretty pages to show you what I mean! Gorgeous!

.....love those magical  mushrooms and mini mice :) .... 

.....a glittery, magical land, I want to go there!.....

....cute family snaps on the inner cover, love all those little baby cots.....

So, Kate has very generously sent me a copy of her book and also one to giveaway to one of you. 

How good is that! :)

Kate is selling her gorgeous book through her Etsy shop over here if you'd like to have a look.  I think  it would be a great present for crafty kids or crafty anyone really!  

(And supporting a lovely creative talent so a win/win really!)

So if you would like to enter the giveaway, just leave comment telling me what your favourite children's or crafty book is, I'd love to get some new recommendations, and I will pick a winner next Tuesday!

Good luck!

Have a fantastic day people, hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Creativity Blog Hop...

Hello!

I am taking part in a Blog Hop today, and talking about creativity.  I was tagged by the lovely Kate from Just Pootling, hi Kate!

There are four questions to answer, and hopefully they will shed some light on my creative process! So here goes.

1. What am I working on?

Crochet in general, and more specifically at the moment I am working on a tapestry crochet washcloth in a new pattern. And I am also making little knitted hearts for a new dangly thing for our bedroom. I am finding that these small projects that I can complete in a few days are giving me a lot of pleasure.  Not to say I don't like a big time consuming project, but I was having trouble deciding what to make next , so small projects are great for the interim.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Um, this is a hard question, I am not sure my work is all that different from others in the crochet world!  Maybe I have a distinctive colour palette?  I love to play with colour and pattern, and am drawn to stripes and things that have the potential for lots of layering of colour.  I also like 'solid' crochet, I am not into lacy, gappy patterns, so I think there is chunkiness to my work that might be a little different to others, maybe it feels more contemporary than traditional?   I like making big slabs of crocheted fabric in lovely wools and calling them blankets!  But then I like making little pretty frivolous things too!  I also like the tapestry crochet technique at the moment, and I don't see too many people using that in a big way, so maybe that's a little different too.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

I crochet because it brings me enjoyment and I like to see my ideas come to life.  I love making things, and find I am never bored or wondering what to do, as there is always another idea to try out.  I also like making things just to prove that I can!  I get a lot of satisfaction out of making something to the best of my current abilities, and there is still so much to learn!  I am also quite surprised how good it feels to see someone else appreciate something I have made with my own hands, it gets a bit addictive this making caper!  I love crochet because there are so many creative possibilities with this craft.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

I seem to always be doodling or writing little ideas.  My creative process seems to start with an idea, or a technique, stitch or colour combination, and then I will do a bit of drawing to see if I can sketch out how it might look in the end, and then I really just have a go!  I love trying new things out and learning new techniques to broaden my creative choices. I tend to figure out the details as I work, this means an idea can change as it  grows and becomes a real thing.  Something that looks good on paper might not actually work in reality, so I am always open to changing things when I am crocheting.  Or I might have an idea for something and do a little drawing, but not have the skills to bring it to life yet, so I like to revisit old ideas every once in a while as my skill base grows, I often have moments of ' oh I do know how I can make that now' when my skills have caught up to my ideas!  One of the best things about crochet,  it is very easy to pull stitches out and try again! 

So there you have it, a little insight into me and what makes me tick creatively speaking.

Here are 3 other lovely bloggers to pass the baton onto and continue the hop for next week -

*Heike over at Made with Loops

*Butterfly Sparkles over at Butterfly Sparkles Designs

*Emm over at Crochet.Reading.Travels.Stories.Life.Love.Me

So what are you up to today, creative wise?  

Knitting and Crochet Love Fest .........

I was having a little surf around blogland the other day and came across 'The 2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week' launch page here.
Sounded right up my alley, being the complete knitting and crochet tragic that I have become, I couldn't resist joining in, and, guess what, it starts tomorrow!!

So from the 28th March till the 3rd April, each day there is a topic to talk about on our blogs, relating to knitting and crochet, of course, (so if it all starts to sound a bit too nana-ery, feel free to skip me for a week haha !) but I think it will be fun, and hopefully, maybe, entertaining and inspiring and interesting, etc!! I know I will look forward to see what other yarny people are blogging about!
Having said that, I don't really know what I'm going to say tomorrow!

I went on a bit of a yarn shopping spree on Friday, so I might show you what I bought, lots of potential for gorgeous things !!

I have been busy making a few things in between the usual family life things, so I hope to have some new finished projects to ta dah soon.

See you tomorrow for Day 1 of 'Knit and Crochet' love fest!!

Thanks!

Yesterday I was very surprised and happy to see I had been given this award by the lovely Victoria from Yarn Round Hook. Thanks Victoria!!

Apparently I have to tell 7 things about myself, so here goes

1. I love to cook. And to eat. (I think I'm a bit of a glutton)

2. I love bookshops and books, I have no problem justifying book purchases for anyone in our family.

3. I have to admit I have been totally sucked in by the 'Twilight' series. I read all 5 books in 1 week, I was so hooked! Stephanie Meyer knows how to write a mean story! There is nothing like a bit of escapism to brighten your day.

4.I learnt how to crochet about 6 weeks ago, and now my mind is full of things I want to make!

5.I have a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design (although I have never worked in the industry; I went and had babies instead), and love being 'a creative type'.

6.I try to be semi- self -sufficient and grow a lot of our vegies all year and also fruit in summer.
I am involved with our local community garden as well, so what I don't grow at home I can generally find down there.

7. My family are fantastic! I am really close to my mum and dad and sisters and their families and my in-laws, and I am trying to create a similar 'atmosphere' for our boys to grow up in so they can experience the strength of a strong connected family. (You know what I mean?)


There are my 7 facts, and now I am supposed to pass the award onto 15 other blogs I've come across, however since I haven't been blogging for long I will give it to 4 other blogs -

1. Knicky Knacks
2.Pink Fluffy Warrior
3.plus 3 crochet
4.Just-Do

Most of these I found through i-crochet, so check it out if you like crochet!
I'm off to leave a comment for these guys and then bed is calling I think!
Have a great day. Jules