Owls everywhere!

Here we are again - another Monday! As always, do visit Handmade Monday to see lots more lovely craft blogs. 


I'm not a having a very productive one here since the kids have a teacher training day, so one has gone out to work on homework with a friend, leaving the other one here all alone with no-one to play with! So I'd better get on with it...



As mentioned last time, I've been introduced to Pinterest (notice my new button up at the top left?? *hint hint*) and I pinned one of my knitted creations on there. It seemed to get quite a lot of 'repins' so I thought I'd share it with you all too! 

My Little Knitted Sock Owl

It's a prototype really - I think it needs a bit more 'cuteness' somehow. Maybe some more embroidery on it? Does anyone have any suggestions?
The owl was made from hand-dyed sock yarn, and is filled with plastic pellets and lavender so it smells gorgeous!


This then got me thinking about all the lovely handmade owls that there are around, so here are some of my favourites:

Tiny Crochet Owls on Etsy

These are so sweet! I want them all dangling off my bag.

Owl Mobile Phone Cosy on Etsy

Here's another thing on my 'Projects to Make' list!

Owl Cushion from The Purl Bee

This is just too gorgeous and huggable! It's made from alpaca yarn, so I can only just imagine how soft it must be.

Lastly, a lovely big thank you to Jam Dalory for this lovely award - it's very kind, and it's always nice to have a pretty picture to add and brighten up my page! I am struggling to find 5 blogs to award, because all the ones I follow have too many followers to qualify - but I will work on it and pass on the award soon!

See you soon!

A Surprise Visit

Back in the old days before the children arrived, hubby and I used to enjoy a bit of birdwatching - personally I blame my father-in-law who is an avid birdwatcher (or 'twitcher' which is the term for an obsessive birdwatcher!).

Anyway, we don't have much time for such things any more - our birdwatching tends to be restricted to the back garden or the occasional walk in the country.
However, there was great excitement one night this week when we had an unusual visitor to our back garden - a Barn Owl! It was the dog who alerted us - she always spots anything lurking in the garden. Hubby went to see what she was barking at, and there it was sitting on our garden wall. They are normally countryside birds, so to see one in the middle of Stafford must be quite rare.



A Barn Owl

 That has prompted me to post some links to some lovely items we bought (or the kids received) over Christmas. I am a big fan of handmade things, and owls are really popular at the moment! We bought this little fellow for my father-in-law:

He's all lovingly handmade in Yorkshire, and made from felt and wire - I love the attention to detail around his eyes! If you would like to have a look at more goreous felt birds, you can find them at The Felt Menagerie .

Here's another little handmade owl - the kids got one of these each from Santa, who must have been looking at The Linen Cat .

By a strange coincidence Beth, who owns 'The Linen Cat', used to know and live in the same village as my husband! Such a small world isn't it? Even more so now that we can buy such lovely things from all over the country.

More handmade things coming soon - maybe even some of my own :)

Bye for now!