Hi there Lollipop friends!

This months ‘our Sweet Home’ kit couldn’t have come at a better time for me. The thing is, I’d fallen out of love with my home or to be more precise my kitchen and family room where I spend the vast majority of my time!

In truth I disliked my old kitchen from the day it was installed, it was done on a tight budget with lots of compromises and it just didn’t work for me. Fast forward a few years and it was definitely time for a change! Yes, it’s major upheaval and it’s going to take some weeks but I’ve got everything crossed that it’ll all come good and that I’ll fall back in love with our home. I decided to make a little journal to record progress from the time I started looking for inspiration to completion which is, as I said, is some weeks away!

By now, those of you who are familiar with my work will know that I can’t resist a bit of stitching! I chose the pretty paper with little houses, hearts, plants and pumpkins for my front cover as I thought it was crying out for embroidered embellishment. I’ve used cross stitch, backstitch and chain stitch to highlight parts of the design.

I used the turquoise heart paper to create the spine and added some zig zag machine stitching. Those little gold corners are so cute and the orange twine is perfect for a closure. I also added two of the little houses from the Mrs Brimbles sticker sheet. I intend using the book to keep notes of things I see and like as I’m gathering ideas for how I will accessorise and furnish my new space. I used alphas from my stash along with the die cut from the kit to add ‘Home NOTES’ to the front cover. I had a length of turquoise bobble trim in my stash which was a great colour match so I stitched that on the back cover.

One of the paper bags, reinforced with machine stitching and embellished with a cluster of bits and pieces, holds some photos taken during week 1 of the project (I’ve journaled on the back of them). I’ve also added the little kraft card to list the things I need To Do!

If you’ve never tried stitching on paper, I urge you to have a go, it’s really quite easy. If you don’t have a supply of embroidery thread have a look in your local charity shop, mine has a craft section and they often have stranded silks for sale. You could create a border for a journal page, cut out individual houses, pumpkins or a row of plant pots to decorate a page or a scrapbook layout or create stitched clusters. Go on, have a go and if you do, please post photos in the Facebook Chat Group as we love seeing how you use your kits.

I’ll pop back over the next few weeks to give you updates on progress and show you how my little Home Notes book is filling up!

Until the next time, have fun and happy crafting.

Love Philippa x