Extreme Makeover Scavenger Annie style!

Full of a winter bug this week so I wanted to share with you a little project I completed when we had that lovely sunny weekend only a fortnight ago! Head over to the Scavenger Annie website blog for the full article HERE. Enjoy!
Annie

Giveaway Winner!

First and foremost, thank you for entering my first giveaway ladies, your time and lovely comments are much appreciated.
I numbered you in the following order (in relation to your comment posting)

1: TrulyJaded, 2: Phoebe, 3: Dayna.


I then used Random.org to pick a number from 1 to 3 (unfortunately I've not been able to do a screen capture and post it for you to see, sorry!) and the results were...


Drum roll please....

The grand prize!!

2!
Phoebe!!
So I will be contacting you for your details and a Where's Me Grog? bib is on its way to you! Yaaaay!!

Thanks again to everyone, and please stay tuned for more rockin' threads, sweet stitchin' and Scavenger Annie giveaways.
Annie
xx

Scavenger Annie's Alternative Emporium LAUNCH DAY!!

The day has finally arrived! After much downloading, stitching, testing and experimenting, Scavenger Annie is open for business and ready to take orders. Squeeeal!!

Head over to http://facebook.com/scavenger.annie and check out some gorgeous embroidered baby and children's clothes with an alternative rockin' twist!

Now seen as it is such a special day, I'm going to also launch my very first giveaway. Right here, right now.(I'm holding back from using too many exclamation marks in this post, can you feel the excitement?!)

Here's your chance to win a "Where's Me Grog?" small velcro bib, embroidery design by Urban Threads and stitched by Scavenger Annie.



Enter the draw to win a bib like this! (Thread colours on prize may vary slightly from those shown here) 

To enter the draw you must complete ALL of the following steps:
1. Become a follower of my blog by clicking the Join This Site button in the sidebar.
2. Head over to my Facebook profile here and add me as a friend
3. LIKE the Scavenger Annie's Alternative Emporium page
4. Leave a comment below THIS POST telling me your favourite embroidery design that you've seen in the Emporium. Please also include your Facebook name if it is different from your blog following name AND your email address so that I can get in touch with you if you are the lucky winner!

Entries must be received BEFORE midnight on Thursday 25th August 2011 (GMT).

PRIZE DRAW TERMS & CONDITIONS:
Valid entries must have completed ALL of the steps listed above.
ONE winner will be chosen by Random Number Generator on Friday 26th August 2011 to receive one Small "Where's Me Grog?" bib (suitable from newborn to approx. 12 months) courtesy of Scavenger Annie's Alternative Emporium.
Thread colours of prize may vary slightly from those shown in the above photograph.
Any entries posted after midnight on Thursday 25th August 2011 (GMT) will NOT be included in the draw.
The results of the prize draw are final and the winner announced on Friday 26th August 2011 (GMT) on this blog.

Thanks for joining in the fun and GOOD LUCK!!
Annie

Naughty Scavenger!!

Ooops, sorry for not posting in awhile folks. But I've a good reason...a very exciting reason, hehe! Not much can be said about it right now until everything is official. My busy bee state has something to do with this old gal:

Her name is Jane the Janome machine and heck, she sure is swell!! A whole new world has been opened up to me and I've dived right into that crafty, sewing goodness. So when things have settled down, there'll be some cool crafty projects on display soon. I promise!

Until next time,
Annie
x

On the move

A short and sweet post this month. July is mad busy (there I was thinking maternity leave would be relaxing and chilled hah!) and to add to the crazy we decided to move my crafting/sewing room. Why do we do such things to ourselves?! Insert hysterical laughter here... So at the moment my new space looks like this:

Argh! It's like two messy worlds have collided and created one heck of a bomb site. Bedding, fabrics, baby gates, unused CD racks...Just how many ornaments and vases can I fit on one windowsill?? Roll on August when I can take a breather and steadily work through everything. One thing is that I am looking forward to the opportunity to get all my crafting gear organised properly. A place for everything and everything in its place! 

Watermouth Castle

This wasn't just any old castle...

Inside we discovered an amazing collection of mechanical fun!

Every garden should have a gnome, this place was home to Gnomeland!

Gnold is Gnome currency don't y'know...

Water load of fun!

Now dry your hands...

Ahhh you guys!

"If we turn left at the Windmill, past the Tilting House, we should find the cafe"

The Great Julius Snailius

I so want one of these in my garden!! Do you think the bears would miss it?

Until next time,
Annie
xx

Sweet Vacation

Just returned from a relaxing week's holiday with the family. Here's a sneak peak of the adventures we got up to. Can you guess the places we visited?
  

Our lovely Beachside digs for the week

  

 

EWE'll be amazed at the fun to be had here!



 

Have you seen Bo Peep's bush?

  

We travelled far from Gnome



 

Devonshire knows how they make it so creamy



Something crafty this way comes



A true scavenger always has some scraps of calico to hand...

Impromptu Sunday

What a busy, unexpected day! It all started when a lovely friend (Hi Debs!) sent me a link on FB to an antiques and vintage textiles fair last night. Cue puppy dog eyes at hubby...

And that was my/our Sunday sorted. The fair was being held just across the road from my old uni house, so I knew how to get there no problem. Believe it or not, hubby wanted to come with me. For some reason he didn't want me to go all by myself to "The Largest Vintage Fair in the UK"?! Teehee.

I had a lovely time, it was fab. If you ever get chance to go to one of these fairs, then do! Loads of stalls with genuine vintage clothing (no second-hand Topshop clothes here thank you very much), gorgeous Victorian lace pieces, quaint vintage fabrics by the yard, all types of buttons, belt buckles and hats, ahh the list goes on! 

Yes, I did spend money that I don't really have, but everyone deserves a treat once in awhile eh?

The first stall that I came to had an array of sewing supplies, suitcases of fabric, baskets of lace pieces and...a box of old sewing patterns for £1. Yes, you read right, one whole pound!! So I rifled through them and stumbled upon this:


Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Awww!

Kerching! First purchase of the day!! I was particularly drawn to this costume below:

Stomp stomp! Get on the floor, everybody do the Dinosaur!

I love dinosaurs and I love making my little man love dinosaurs too. It's not brain washing, it's educating...
I can just see my little monster stomping about in this get up. All I need to do now is get my batch of clothing makes done and dusted so I can start this. What a bargain though! The other patterns were ok, mainly 70's outfits for ladies and kids. Reminded me of what they wore on The Brady Bunch or (more recent) That 70's Show. Not my cup of tea, but for every pattern there's a seamstress out there. Another buy was the vintage gingham style cotton fabric that you can see in the background of the photos. Not sure what to make with that yet but had a total fabric crush when I spotted it.

Shiny!

My next set of purchases were some lovely buttons. The lady who owned the stall had a huge collection of buttons for sale. She admitted to being a collector and I can totally understand. Shiny buttons send this magpie cuckoo! You name it, she had it - mother of pearl, wooden ones, plastic, vintage, modern, art deco. She had a great batch of buckles for sale too, a turquiose art deco buckle did catch my eye but the price tag of £20 was too steep for me!

By this point we had completed the outer stalls in the hall and I was ready to drag hubby and little man around explore the inner circle of stalls. A few glances at cloche hats and peeking at delicate ladies gloves later I crossed the path of my dream stall. The lady's shop is called Yellow Squirrel, I unfortunately did not get her name, but she makes the cutest jewellery. A pair of bumble bee hair clips caught my eye first of all, but then I caught sign of this stunning Steampunk Skeleton Ball Watch Necklace. Click on the link for some far superior shots than mine by Yellow Squirrel. Now this was a treat price wise (I left the bees alone for another time), but hubby went halves as a belated birthday present. Yay!

Tick tock!

Inner clock gears, what beauties!

If you get chance check out her shop on Etsy. There are so many things I want on there I think I might have to make up a Wish List to give to hubby! I loved the mini harmonica necklaces, the octopus chain and the hair clips just scream summer fun. Ooh and yes I do get very giddy when I see anything steampunk, perhaps it's the influence of working with steam engines at MOSI?!

Well what a shop! Check out Decorative Fairs for listings of future UK events. I'm definitely saving up the pennies for the next Manchester one in September. Hmm, might try and convince the girls at work to go to the next one as there were so many vintage items that we could use for our costume interpretation. The best thing about this fair was the range of items on sale, their quality and range in price. From pocket money to life savings, you sure could spend it there! Well I easily could lol...

Time to rest these shopaholic eyes for another day, 

Annie

xx

Sew much to do!

Well now the garden is pretty much up and running, I'm back to sewing. I think that I'm a typical crafter with many projects on the go. A crafting butterfly, flitting about hehe!

Baby t-shirt with the tiniest neck hole ever!

I still have to put buttons & buttonholes on my jacket that I started making at sewing class, many moons ago, but in the meantime I have been busy starting other projects! I refashioned a baby t-shirt that had the smallest neck hole I've ever seen. A nice, quick & easy sew that one.

Then I made a start on a lovely 50s style dress for my holidays using the vintage floral fabric shown in the previous post Afternoon Delight. Part way through pinning the pattern down I realised that I didn't have enough fabric (rookie mistake!) so that put the brakes on that! I then began a project which, I am proud to say, has been completed. Phew!! So here they are, in all their rawk glory (insert hair metal air guitar riff here)...

Skulls rock dudes!!

Not bad for a first attempt eh?!

I'll even admit that I did a happy dance once they were sewn up (just a little one) :) Adjustments for next time would be to make them bigger around the waist, give them a deeper shape and I quite fancy the idea of tackling pockets. Ooh get me being all adventurous! Ahh there's no business like sew business.

Until next time lads & lasses,

Annie

xx

Garden Update

Before (or should I say "during")

After, ta da!

Then a BBQ to celebrate

Long time, no post!

Well it sure has been a time since I last blogged. Oops! So here's what I've been up to lately...
Had a lovely family day out at Easter weekend. We loaded up the car and headed to Crosby Beach where Anthony Gormley's Another Place is. Luckily the weather was gorgeous, with a cooling sea breeze that was much needed!

Crosby Beach

As with every bank holiday (and every weekend for the past month) we did a bit of gardening. Ok, a LOT of gardening. Our garden is now looking more organised, with Primulas & Violets merrily sunning themselves in our new bedder. My last post showed the beginnings of "The Great Patio Laying". All I can say is never again! I just couldn't believe the mess and number of trips hubby had to make to the tip.

Clutter just migrated across the garden

Dig dig dig!

 It was a labour of love but our hard work paid off. We now have a super new chilling area. Yay!

Ta da!

I celebrated by buying many flowers. Muhahaha, my pretties! The daffodils were in full bloom too, I just loved the colour all the plants brought to the garden. 

The new patio also spurred on the veggie and fruit planting. Granted this excitement led to various containers of all shapes and sizes surrounding the newly expanded patio, bursting with colourful flowers and lush green leaves. Whoops-a-daisy the garden was cluttered again!

New home for tasty carrots

Not to worry though, a solution was in the making...

More in the next post,

Annie

Afternoon Delight

Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight...

Mmm, who can resist the aroma of freshly laundered fabric...

At last I have mustered up the courage to take a photo of my floral fabric purchase. I must admit that it is not the best photo (poor light and image quality) and I tried to do a bit of research beforehand on how to photograph fabric. I was stumped! I sense a future post about fabric photography that will spotlight my trials, tribulations and fingers crossed, eventual triumph! Hopefully with practice I'll find a style that clicks with me (pardon the pun).

Now to the afternoon delight. Me and the hubby made a start on turning our humble new build garden into a calming green oasis today. (What other kind of afternoon delight did you think I meant?!) So here are some before shots, taken with the Polandroid filter on FXCamera app for Android (my latest gadget love!).

Underneath that muddy grass is lots of hard clay and rubble. Ah the joys of new build homes!

Here's our apple tree in the first stages of blossom, with tiered basket in the foreground.

How 1980s does this shot look?!

Plastic planters waiting all in a row for their new home.

And here's my labourer hubby hard at work relaying the paving flags around the shed.

We have another day to dedicate to the garden this weekend so here's hoping the first third of our garden project will be finished before the April rains arrive. I've made a start on a garden journal, noting down all the plants' information and design ideas that I like. Once we are done with the physical labour of gardening I'll post a few snippets of it for your perusal.

Have a fab weekend!
Annie

Springtime blossoms

Spring brings about a need to clear out the cobwebs of winter and welcome on in the sunshine. What better way to start a sweet springtime season than with a new blog? So hello and welcome to my little corner of the world. Feel free to soak up the crafting, share your thoughts and join in on this cheery journey with little ol' Scavenger Annie!

At last Spring is making itself known in the garden!

The apple tree is looking good to blossom beautifully this year. I can't wait to see how many apples we get!

Then there's this little twiggy fella. A total mystery as to what plant he is, but he's a strong sprouter! 

All this lovely new greenery and springtime weather certainly has me in the mood for a spot of sewing for the summer. You can't beat a bit of advanced crafting, so a trip to the fabric shop was on the cards for today. (Admittedly this will be my third sewing project that I have on the go at the moment!) I came across some vintage looking floral loveliness that I washed and pressed as soon as I got home. Photos to follow tomorrow of its lushness...

Enjoy the sunshine,
Annie