Create & Grow

How the humble zip was born

Mandy — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:50:35 +0000

You might have noticed, if you looked at Google’s home page, that today is the birthday of Gideon Sundbäck, he lived from April 24, 1880 – June 21, 1954. He is well know for his major contribution to the creating of the zip or zipper as it was known back then.

Here is a link to Wikipedia article about him.

Monday Sewing Class

Mandy — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:59:41 +0000

A lovely class today, the children worked well, with quiet chatter. Half the class were engrossed in decorating the front of their square bears, choosing buttons and embroidery thread colours, the other half were getting to grips with sewing around corners and curves, in preparation for sewing their lavender hearts together.

Monday's After School Club

It’s a super room to work in a library/computer room, plenty of space for machines and tables for working round. I must remember to sit on a chair or kneel beside a child I am helping, rather than bending my back which takes hours for the pain to subside!

Fun at the Fair

Mandy — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:34:02 +0000

I got to the Vintage and Handmade Fair at opening time, 10am. There was already a long queue. I met a friend and her daughter there. We all had great fun looking at all the fabulous things, fabrics, clothes, trinkets, refashioned items, vintage books etc. I found a present for my daughter, which I can’t show you yet because she might see it before her birthday, also a present for my mother for Mothers’ Day. I bought some lovely used mangle linen, I intend to make all sorts of goodies with it. First I fancy making hand embroidered buttons with it.

My purchases

After the shopping we needed refreshing and I had tea and lemon cake at a Deli in Chipping Sodbury, called The Hamptons. My friends had some delicious foods. I will be going there again.

Vintage And Handmade

Mandy — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:37:54 +0000

Just found out from a friend I bumped into that the Vintage And Handmade Fair held in Chipping Sodbury is on tomorrow. What’s more I am free for the first time that this fair has been on, so I will be there.

Vintage And Handmade Fair

Square Bear

Mandy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:07:59 +0000

May I introduce you to square bear. I have some level 2 children sewing this while the lower group catch up. He is so sweet with his little shirt and buttons. I got the instructions from Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan. When the children have finished I will upload pics of their square bears, it will be like a whole family of square bears.

Square Bear

You might recognise the type of photo this is. I am now taking daily (nearly) photos with the iphone hipstamatic app.

I am moving.

Mandy — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:07:30 +0000

… to a WordPress website. For any sewing class information please e-mail me at mandy@createandgrow.co.uk.

This is amazing!!

Mandy — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:07:00 +0000

Some of you know that our son Jeff is deaf. He was diagnosed just before he was three. He was tested regularly and his hearing was deteriorating fast. Luckily it just came to a stop and he was left with a moderate to severe sensorineural bilateral hearing loss. By 3 he was wearing 2 hearing aids and learning to speak.

For some babies and children they don’t have any hearing, they are profoundly deaf, they can’t hear anything at all. There is hope for these children, it is called a cochlear implant and with lots of learning and input it will allow them to hear and learn to speak. It is absolutely amazing. Get a tissue and watch this 2 minute video.

Isn’t that incredible?

The Carel Du Toit Centre is in South Africa, where they teach these children who have been lucky enough to have cochlear implants, which is where my friend’s son went.

I learnt about cochlear implants from my friend Sue, her son Hughan has a cochlear implant. They arrived from South Africa about the same time we arrived from Portsmouth and our boys both ended up in the same class. It is wonderful to see how well Hughan has done since I have known him, he is now working full time, I can ring and speak to him on the phone, which is just great.

Sue is publishing Hughan’s Diary from the first days onwards, they had videos and pictures of his learning. You can find Hughan’s Diary here. She hopes it will help other parents with children with cochlear implants, to help them work with their children and give encouragement and hope to the parents.

In South Africa there is no National Health Service so each operation has to be paid for. I think she said it cost £50,000 for the operation, £45,000 is provided via the university hospital and £5,000 by parents. It is a very expensive business. If you wish to make a donation you can through www.hughansdiary.com.

After 2 years studying Countryside Management, he changed tack and has just finished his degree in Architectural Technology and the Environment at Plymouth Uni with a 2:1. He is now back home and job hunting.

I felt quite moved by this little video and just wanted to pass it on.

Mandy — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 06:45:00 +0000

My mother has been crafting. She liked a couple of patterns in my magazines.

This one is a bunny decorated and blanket stitched round the edges. Look at that cute pink, pom, pom tail. I think this one was destined for a friend’s new granddaughter to hang in the baby’s bedroom.

The hanging heart was from July Crafts Beautiful magazine. I think it is gorgeous, it looks so appealing and would look lovely hanging in my one day decorated as a beach hut cloakroom. My Mum is an inspiration as she gets things done.

Just thought I would pass this offer on to you, offered by Jaycotts. Patterns are so expensive now that any help is very welcome.

The whole thing

Mandy — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:53:00 +0000

Here is the full image of the card I put together for Thornbury Craft Club. I found the template on Splitcoast Stampers.

Hello world!

Mandy — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:36:16 +0000

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!