Summer crafting and a winner!

cross stitch rose...lavender scented heart...crochet...
afternoon tea...mary jane's...banana loaf...fabric covered hoop
~ ❀ ~
I made the little cross stitch rose which hangs on my cupboard
this week from the current issue of Mollie Makes which luckily arrived through our door on a very warm and sultry morning when playing with yarn didn't seem to be the best choice for the day....(unusually for me!)

Luck would have it that I already had a 4" embroidery hoop, some pretty left over fabric pieces to decorate it and double sided tape....everything else comes free with the issue (30) ...so a lovely afternoon was had sitting in the garden under the shade of an umbrella with my little hoop and threads....

I'll definitely be decorating more of my hoops this way in the future I think they look really pretty and it's also a great way to use up all
those fabric scraps that are just too lovely to throw away ~ ❀ ~

I've also started a new crochet project which you can see a peek of here and I'll be showing you more of this in my next post....it may even be finished!
It's from this Japanese Crochet book which I purchased on ETSY.

I love these books and now have several of them but should just mention that
the text is in Japanese and I only work from the symbol charts (which I prefer to do anyway)
I've made 38 hexagons now in lots of different colours but I'm planning to do a total of 65
Surprisingly and in such a short time, crochet has become a part of every day for me...
I just love everything about it ♥

....and who doesn't love a little pair of red Mary Jane's? These little red shoes are my take on the traditional vintage style .... the way I remember them from childhood story books... a wide rounded toe...rimmed sole....a simple strap with a pretty button fastening (a free knitting pattern which will fit all 15" TEAROOM Rabbits and Bears and
available when I return from the summer break) I've also made up a pair of each leg design
with the shoes in different colours and yarns to give some extra ideas for the original patterns too.
Yes, I still....love...love...love....my knitting.... ~ ❀ ~

We've been enjoying lots of afternoon teas on warm summer days... including Ashley's homemade scones (with jam and clotted cream) and cakes of many kinds (the banana loaf in the first pic is from a recipe by the wonderful and ever reliable Mary Berry Truly delicious....we're all fans of Mary's recipes here ~ ❀ ~ Okay, enough of crafty endeavours....who won the Giveaway? Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who entered which I must say was quite overwhelming and made me feel more than a little humble!
All the numbers have been entered into the Random Number Generator and our winner is...

Linda (T) Congratulations to you Linda!
If you could contact me and your parcel will be in the post

Thank you so much everyone for taking part...
I so enjoyed reading all the kind comments and
it reminds me once again how many friends I've made through
the online crafty world...it's brilliant! x
~ ❀ ~ Next Giveaway will be in the Autumn and I hope you will join us again ~ ❀ ❀ ❀ ~

Time to go...
cheerio until next time
Love always