Imagination... What is it good for?

I did this picture recently for my little boy. It was a deeply personal piece of work for me as my son has been having a bit of a tough time at school. 

He's only 4, he turns 5 at the end of this month, and his first year at school has been one of many ups and downs. He struggled to settle at first, and managed to convince school that he couldn't cope with a full day... I resisted and he proved he could, with a little persuasion, make it through a whole day. 

From then we've battled with resistance at every turn, not wanting to do anything remotely connected with learning... He'd rather be sat in the corner making something amazing with masking tape and drinking straws. I must admit it's got me thinking a lot about creativity and how being creative is not something that is valued in our schooling system. 

If you're a square peg it seems the aim of school is to knock off your edges and make you fit that round hole. But what if you're a triangle or a diamond? It seems there's no place for you and you're labelled as having 'special needs' taken away from doing the things you love, and made to sit and do even more reading, writing and 'rithmetic. 

My son has the most amazing imagination I've ever come across. He inspires me every single day and being his mummy is my greatest privilege. So this little piece of artwork was my way of letting him know how valued his imagination is here, no matter what his teachers may think. 

A quick one... About a not so quick cake

The 

It's my son's 4th birthday party this weekend and in time honoured tradition we like to come up with a new theme each year. This year it's robots. 

The boy is just mad about them, so it made complete sense to theme the party around them! We had lots of ideas for games and treats that I will share with you later! But for now I thought I'd show you the cake. 

It's home made so not perfect, and I had an absolute nightmare with icing it as it was so hot the icing was too soft to handle! But I'm pretty chuffed with how it turned out!

Bare naked cakes waiting to be stacked and iced. 

I made way too much batter and had enough to make 3 heads! Real school girl error there!

The finished article! Robot cake tactic! 

Party planning means crafting...

It's my son's fourth birthday next week and we're planning a small party for him in the back garden. He wanted a robot theme this year so I've set to work on making it happen. 

So far all I've done is make the invitations and party bags. Doesn't sound like much, but it involved getting to grips with a new skill - stamp carving... 

I recently received my first Crafty Fox Box, a subscription craft service where you get sent an exciting box choc full of crafty bits every month. And June's box was all about stamping. It provided the tools and inspiration to help me create the invites!

I drew out a cute robot figure and set to carving it out. I probably should have picked an easier design for my first attempt, but I never was one to make things easy for myself! 

You have to transfer the design onto the soft rubber and then very carefully carve the excess bits away, leaving behind the bits you want to make an impression. It took a while and a fair bit of concentration; but we got there in the end!

Then I got out the ink pad and started stamping! I created some postcard style invites and party bags with the same little robot design on. 

I think they came out ok! Good enough for my boy to be pretty happy anyway! 

Now, next step - the cake... 

Sunny day apple cosies

It's a beautiful day today so I thought I'd make the most of it and sit out in the garden with my crochet hook and whip up some apple cosies for presents for my son's teachers. 

The boy was playing happily in the wigwam and Freyfrey was asleep so I cracked on. This really simple pattern (Mollie Makes issue 1) took no time at all to hook up so I managed to get two made up AND sew the buttons on. Bonus. 

What are you doing for presents for teachers? It can be a hard call! Didn't really want to spend any real money on them if I could help it - homemade is better anyway right!!?

Queen Anne's Lacey bits

After a totally disastrous morning washing the sofa covers I thought I'd cheer myself up with a bit of Pinterest browsing and it suddenly occurred to me that is forgotten to post the pics of my completed Queen Anne's Lace blanket. 

As I mentioned before, it was a real labour of love working out the pattern., but I think the results were definitely worth it! 

I also had a go at cushion designing with the leftover yarn. What do you think?

A little bit of magic...

How do fairies get into your house? We were wondering this the other day during a chat we were having about my son's invisible friend 'Bug' (he's very little and has wings like a fairy). They are too little to use our big doors. So it got me thinking... And then this happened - a fairy door magically appeared in my daughter's bedroom! 

I told a few friends about our new addition and, of course, they wanted to know how they could get one too... They are very cute after all! 

They are very simple to put together, but for those that are craftily challenged I am putting together some in kit form (or fully made up). If you're interested, contact me on twitter @arare5minutes and I will do my best to help you out. 

M x

Time for a little catch up

Well, things have been a little crazy here of late, with my dear little Freyfrey learning how to walk. Not much time for blogging or crafting! But now she's up on her feet I am hoping to get a bit more 'me time' and a lot more productive! Currently working on a Queen Anne's Lace blanket which has been like a maths master class in working out how to get it to work, but am pretty pleased with how it's coming together. Pics to follow soon...

Busy, busy, busy

It's been a busy old week. Been trying to get Freyfrey's room finished this week do she can finally move into it (at nearly nine months old I think it's time...) so not much time for crafting.

But, I did manage to find time to make these slippers for my neice's Christmas present. Made with double yarn they should be nice and comfy on her little feet! And I'm sure she's gonna love the big flower on the top too!

They were super quick to make, so am going to make up another pair in the next size up for her too. Will try a different flower next time though as I wasn't too sure about the big ones...

More felt. Different needles.

More felt, but not needling it this time. Instead I've been busy sewing sequins onto it. Hastily trying to construct a stocking for Little J before we head off to NZ for Christmas this year.

It's my first ever Christmas on the beach, DearH is from NZ so it's normal for him, so I thought I'd honour the occasion with a Santa on the beach, only a few more hundred sequins to go...

Feltie doggies

Inspired by the cute doggies on the cover of Mollie Makes, I thought I'd have a go at making one. I ordered all the bits and bobs and when it arrived, waited for a quiet moment when Ff was asleep and then got to work.

The process involved repeatedly stabbing a ball of fleecy wool with a barbed needle until the fibres are all knitted together and it forms a solid shape. From there you can join pieces or different colours together to create your desired shapes.

I fell in love with the lovely designs created by Gretel Parker, check out her blog at http://allaroundus.blogspot.com/
And mine was a pale imitation! But I'm determined to have another go and see what else I can produce. Little J was certainly impressed with the results :0)

It's been a little while...

Things have been busy here, so not much time has been spared for blogging. But we've still had a bit of time for crafting, baking, decorating and fun :0)

Little J went back to pre-school this week, so I was busy preparing some treats for his newly acquired lunch bag. Which I am pleased to report he has eaten all up every day so far! It was a real tug to see him go off, looking so tiny in his little uniform, but the huge smile on his face when he came home made it all ok!

This week I have been hooking up a little jacket for Freyfrey from the lovely Cute Baby Crochet book by Nikki Trench. Having mastered a new stitch I am really pleased with how it's coming along, and will post some pics when I've completed it.

One thing I did have a go at over the summer hols, was a lovely crocheted toadstool doorstop for Freyfrey's new room. I saw one in the new Jools Oliver range for Mothercare and thought I could make one, so I did. And here it is, what do you think?

Labour pains... Christmas cake.

I went on a cupcake decorating course last summer where I learnt how to make decorations and pipe icing onto cupcakes. So in a fit of domesticity I decided that I'd have a go at making and decorating my first ever Christmas cake.

Now, I'm not one for baking. As a bit of a perfectionist I'm never happy with how my cakes turn out... And they rarely turn out well (not that it stops my dear hubbie or kiddies from scoffing the lot). But i gave it a go.

I baked the cake using the celebration cake recipe from the good ol' Be-Ro book. And dutifully covered it in marzipan and white fondant icing. Then came the fun bit... Decorating it.

My mum had leant me a couple of Karen Davies' A Cake for Christmas books and I thought I'd have a go at the Santa and Reindeer cake. I loved the cute characters and it looked quite simple to make. Which was handy as I ended up having labour pains pretty much the entire time I was making them...

I kept it quite simple, and as my cake was a bit smaller than Karen Davies' instructions called for, it's not quite the same as her design. But I was pretty chuffed with the results, and my son thought rudolph's sparkly nose was the best bit! Not bad considering they were all handmade between contractions ;0)

Check out Karen's website here: http://www.karendaviescakes.co.uk/default.asp

Spring newborn lambs.

I made this cute little lamb (from Tone Finnanger's Springtime Gifts book) recently as a gift for my good friend's newborn son. My first foray into soft toys; I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Made from a soft hand towel it had a lovely soft, squishy character when it was finished, and has quickly become a firm favorite with the little one it was made for.

I was pleased with how it came together, and surprised at how easy it was. Apart from the fact I'd used trickery materials that frayed quite a lot, it was pretty straightforward to create. I love Tone's work, she has such a distinctive style. Her Tilda books never fail to impress in this household! You can see a list of her books available on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tone-Finnanger/e/B004MPFYXW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Let me know what you think!

Jolly, sparkly, Christmas

I don't know if you've seen them, but American co Bucilla create these fantastic felt kits that provide everything you need to make these lovely felt decorations.

I had a go at making a door wreath for Christmas. And after sewing on what felt like 5 million sequins, it was finally finished. The kits are simple to do,as all the designs are printed directly onto the felt. So all you have to do is cut them out, sew, embroider, decorate, stuff and assemble... Phew.

It took a while, but I think the end result was worth it!

A rare five minutes...

I've always loved crafts. From when I was a little girl I've never been happier than when sat down making something. Be that pictures for my teachers or pompom balls for my two baby brothers.

As a family, we never had much money so 'make do and mend' was etched onto our collective psyche. I learnt how to knit at a early age, and can remember being pretty chuffed with myself when I had 'taught myself' how to cast on so I didn't need to ask my mum to do it for me (it quickly became apparent that there was a LOT more to casting on than just wrapping the yarn around the needle...).

I've wanted to create a craft blog for along time, but alas with two very small children it's hard to find the time. Hence the name 'a rare five minutes', which reflects not only the snatched time to write this, but create the crafts in the first place!

So here we go, I hope you like what I create. It's not always perfect, but it is always made from the heart.