I've finished the felt noughts and crosses game in plenty of time to take on holiday! w00t!

I made a bag/game-board for it to keep it all neat and tidy when not in use!

I put cute pink buttons on it and got to use one of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine!

All nice and neat! I have a few more simple games in mind so watch this space! :)

...well, not really but I couldn't think of a good enough title! Don't worry dear reader, I have been doing some sewing, really! I've had a bit of an epic to do list with a few custom orders - which I completely forgot to take photographs of *sigh* along with various other bits and bobs including preparations for returning to work. I can't believe I've been off a year already - where has the time gone?! I think most of it has been spent having fun with this cutey!

Anyway, back to sewing! I've had a few things on my to-do list for a while. One being a big felt noughts and crosses (tic-tac-toe) game that I wanted to get finished before we go away next week so we can take it with us. Today I finished the crosses and made a start on the noughts. I wasn't sure about them, but over the day they have grown on me!

They are pale pink on one side and bright pink on the other! I was thinking of making a few sets to give as Christmas presents so these are the prototypes. I'm going to see what people think! The noughts are bright and pale green! Now all I need to do is make some sort of bag/game board to keep them all together then they can get packed! *is excited about a holiday!*

Today is 6 years since we picked up our furry little friends from the RSPCA.

William (aka Willo, Willbur, Willo-pillow, Wills - you get the idea!)

Sausage (the cat formally known as Prince)

Prince, I know! We never really fancied shouting 'Prince, William, dinner' out of the back door so his name had to change and he was a bit of a silly Sausage. Sausage kind of stuck and that was that! We're so glad that the Cats Protection wouldn't let us have one of their cats (fussy buggers!) and we went to the RSPCA instead. Our little furry rescue boys have brought us much love, laughter and the odd present (bird/squirrel/gold fish/dragon fly/mouse/sausages(!)). Show your pet some love!

For a while now I've been trying to think of something cute, but not too big to put in with all my orders. It had to be something that fit in with my cute felty things and went along with the Monsieur Orange theme. Today I've cracked it! I've been playing around with button making over the weekend for my handmade supplies shop and had a sudden brain wave.....ORANGE BUTTONS!

As you can see, they are made from felt, they are small, quite cute AND orange! I'm rather pleased with the way they make my 'free' vista cards look so much better! Now I should really be making a couple of orders that are due to be finished and delivered tomorrow while Hattie sleeps.....but I'd rather make a few more of these! :)

I've just realised I forgot to pick a winner of my turtle brooch giveaway....

Thank you to the random number generator, as always(!). The winner is comment number 3 ClareBears! Congratulations Mrs Bears - I will be in touch very soon for your address! Watch out for another one next month when I celebrate my birthday by giving stuff away!!! :)

I don't often indulge and actually make things for myself but last week I thought I would make myself a treat - a new needle book! I've been using the same one since I started bogging back in Feb 2007! And this new one is a vast improvement!!!!

You can see I've been using my new flowery buttons! The inside is all neat and tidy and has so much room for my needles and pins! I just need to pop some pins in so I'm never without them! :)

If you like my new flower garden needle book, I have made a few for the shop already and plan to make a few more colours in a week or so. I'm going to have a little break from machine sewing to a. finish knitting baby William's blanket, b. my sewing machine desperately needs de-fluffing and a little TLC and c. to get some of my hand sewing pile out of the way. I've got a pile of sardines that have been cut out since before Hattie was born - I think they were going to be part of last years new Christmas collection(?!).

The purpose of World Turtle Day, May 23, sponsored yearly since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises , and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.

Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, from dressing up as turtles to saving turtles caught on highways, to research activities.

To celebrate I'm giving away this little turtle brooch. All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post before lunch time Tuesday, 25th May (BST) when I will pick a winner! Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you!

Suzanne, one of my pincushion swap participants was a little disappointed to have not received anything from her partner. I decided that I didn't like to have anyone disappointed and made her a fun, fruity pincushion!

She received it today and loves it! YAY! I included some bright citrusy coloured buttons and ribbon too (which I forgot to photograph!) You can see more pictures on Suzanne's blog! I do hope you haven't been put off swaps, Suzanne. I will be doing a couple of pincushion swap round-up blogs next week!