Welcome home...

...to Gilad Shalit.  Your family, friends and Israel never gave up on getting you home safely and after more than 5 long years you are thankfully back where you belong.

Israel showed the world that the life of one young Israeli soldier is worth more than the lives of over a thousand Palestinian terrorists and have brought him home where now may he find peace and time to recover and recuperate.  You are an extremely brave young man and may your life now be filled with nothing but blessings.  Baruch Hashem.

nothing for a month then...

....2 posts in one day.  I have also been working on these recently.  I wanted to make card boxes for 3 of my friends as their Chanukah pressies, of course each box has to be full of cards and there are around 25 cards inside each box so you can understand that I have been a little busy lately.

Box #1

Box #2

and a change of colour for

box #3

Twins and their clothes...

....wow didn't realise I hadn't blogged for over a month - apologies.  The reason being I have been busy making presents for Chanukah.  I love to make most of my Chanukah presents and of course for the girls it had to be dolls and loads of clothes for the dolls. 

We started off with these cute Berenguer dolls - they are only 7 1/2" long.  The baskets will make ideal beds for the babies.

 I then knitted them a bunting each with cute little bonnets to keep their heads warm.

and for going out with their mummies they had to have these cute cotton dresses with pantaloons, hats and shoes

Of course they had to have something to sleep in so a sleeping bag each was next

For Sunday best cute little dresses with cloche hats and matching shrugs and of course little slippers

 for relaxed days they needed hoodies and leggins

and as the weather is turning colder I thought a nice warm winter's outfit to keep them snuggly warm.

now all I need to make is the bedding and a shawl each and they will be complete.  I'll blog those bits when they are finished.  Thats 2 presents down and another 10 to go - oh dear!!!

Our new Friday big girl....

....for the past 4 1/2 years Mya has always spent Fridays with us but now our Friday big girl has started school and Fridays have changed.  We've had Grace on Fridays for nearly 2 1/2 years too and now that big sis has gone to school she has become our Friday big girl.  Her normal request for her lunch is a boiled egg and a bagel, just like her big sister but yesterday she asked for and onion platzel and cheese just like poppa.  The platzel was nearly as big as her but she ploughed her way through it.

Crafty Ribbons Challenge

Over at Crafty Ribbons they have started a challenge blog and here is my card for challenge #1

Emma's Emporium..

okay, you have been asking for pictures and as the revamp is now complete here are a few.....welcome to Emma's Emporium

the front of the store with a rather elegant Victorian lady pushing her perambulator inside which is a tiny baby and of course all the blankets and pillow.  The dog is sitting on the door step waiting to go in to the shop - all will be revealed in a minute.  There is a display in each window of a hat and parasol.

Inside the shop we have an area for the customer - a sofa, needlepoint footstool, cheval mirror, display case and shelf and a coffee table set for tea.  Emma stand behind her glass counter and behind the Japanese screen is a sewing area.  Two double candle holders light the shop and there are 2 cross stitched pictures on the walls. 

A closer view of Emma and her counter and the Japanese screen on which hangs a silk negligee.  The drawers in the counter contain miniature sets of underwear, tiny ladies' slippers, hat pins, gloves, silk bags and the nightdress to match the negligee.  On the counter is a till and quill pen, a lace pillow with bobbins, a mirror and a pearl necklace.

the sewing corner has a sewing table complete with Victoria sewing machine and candlestick telephone.  Also a paper dress pattern, scissors and a tiny work basket with miniscule reels of cotton.  Under the table the cat sleeps in her basket (now you know why the dog wants to come in) and normally there is a chair and a tailors dummy (I removed them to take the photo).

a closer view of the customer sitting enjoying a cup of tea and without the child to drive her mad.

The only thing I may add is a seamstress to sit at the sewing table and possibly some hanging baskets outside, oh and a lantern outside - oops better stop now or the list will get too long.

All boxed out....

...the final box in the cupboard waiting to be altered and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it....

it reminds me of a cake.  I used my beloved Tim HoltzIdea-ology Vintage Shabby Papers to cover the gesso'ed box, colouring the edges of the pieces with VersaMagic in gingerbread.

I made the roses from scraps of the TH paper using Marianne dies, added some pearls in various colours and diamante pins to finish the top.

A close up of the centre.

I added cream guipure lace trim around the side of the lid and diamante pins to each corner.  To 3 of the pins I added a TH Idea-ology token.  A couple of pearls to the base of each side and that was the sides finished.

The isde of the lid was covered with sections of the paper to match the outside of the lid.  The base was lined with a large piece of the paper and panels of the paper to the side.  I added a rose to each corner and four small flowers to the centre.

finally the box stands on 4 TH Idea-ology feet,  my box is complete and I have absolutely no idea what I am going to keep in it, I just want to look at it.