Three Little Monkeys

2012 Project

2012-01-08T22:07:00.010Z

I know... these things have been around for years. Make a list and blog it, crossing off as you go acheive each thing. Bit corny I know, but, heck - I need some motivation to do all of these things! I reckon that if something's written down you have FAR more chance of ensuring you get it done... I suppose you cannot deny that you ever intended to do something if it's written for all to see. This may be a two part list, some tonight and the rest later this week!

1. Give blood

2. Get a passport

3. Go abroad

4. Start jogging again

5. Lose at least 1 stone.... or get back into size 12's comfortably!

6. Bake with the kids more often

7. Go roller skating

8. Have a whole months with no takeout food.

9. Learn Hiragana and Katakana

10. Learn - and remember - some basic Japanese.

11. Make my daughter's birthday dress for her 5th birthday in March.

12. Make Halloween costumes for my children.

13. Spend half an hour every week having a good clearout in a different area of the house.

14. Get a stall at a craft fair for Alexandra B Beeswax Candles

15. Go to the in-law's caravan for weekend breaks at least four times this year.

16. Get dolls clothing pattern finished

17. Set up dolls clothing shop online

18. Re-design blog

19. Blog frequently

20. Use the WiiFit and Wii Zumba at least once a week.

21. Drink more water

22. ....... and less coffee

Right enough for now, battery running low! Not just the laptop but my own personal battery too.

Night

R x

Life goes on..and takes over sometimes.

2012-01-07T00:17:00.003Z

Where does the time go?

I realised that it is a full year since I last posted... time flies. Things are so busy that I simply don't get chance to remember to blog, let alone actually doing it. Over the weekend I shall be posting a list of things I wish to acheive this year, my 2012 bucket list, and sharing lots of new photos. I'll share one of my bucket list items - blogging, and regularly too!

I have lots planned for this year - I intend for it to be a year of change, a year of challenges and a year full of fun. 2012 should have highlights which outshine previous years' highlights.

...and I have an Amazon order arriving - hopefully - tomorrow which I am very excited about.

New book!

2011-01-12T01:19:00.004Z

I got hold of an English copy of "A doll maker's treasury" by Kyoko Yoneyama from Amazon. Now, bearing in mind that used copies go for upwards of £20 on ebay, I was amazed - and very happy - to get my amazon copy for £1.87 (!) plus £2.75 postage. Fabulous!!!! It is now my fourth Yoneyama doll book, including a Japanese copy of one (I can't read a work of Japanese!! LOL)..... good job that the pictures are set out so well.
In fact I have doubled up a copy of one: "Storybook dolls", will get it on ebay at some point this week.

Sorry about the poor quality photo - I shall do a shot in the week and update!

Yippee

I'm nearly done, Amanda!!!

2010-09-12T20:48:00.003+01:00

Only part of the zip to go and I shall have finished. Sadly my model has now retired to bed so photos will be done tomorrow after he gets back from school!!!

I am testing the pattern and tutorial for the Kitschy Coo hoodie and, as with all of Amanda's patterns, it is fantastic and makes very what-could-be very-complicated things seem very straightforward indeed. Another big thumbs up, with photos to follow tomorrow.

Google Analytics is gonna have fun with this one...........

2010-08-28T00:07:00.008+01:00

GIMP.

There, I said it.
Like in sex ed. - it's better to get the embarassing words out of the way at the start.

Have spent an hour or so setting up a new shop on Folksy in preparation for hopefully filling it with lots of new goodies. To cut a long story short I want to make something (no pun intended) of my love for creating and now have two Folksy shops. One which will be Baby Slings, accessories and crafts. The other will be clothing.

Anyway, I digress. I want to get a nice banner and a wander around google lead me to GIMP, a free alternative to Photoshop which can be used to create banners for Etsy and Folksy shops - amongst MANY other uses. It does have a name which you don't want to say out loud (some acronyms just don't work so well) but it looks like it has heaps of potential.

So, armed with my new free-to-download programme and a YouTube tutorial I came up with this...

For a first attempt I am very pleased and will no doubt make many more in the quest for the perfect banner/avatar. The photo is not actually my 'real' design as this computer will not download any recent pics (grrrr) so when I get the real banner done I shall let you all have a peek.

What do you think?

And yes I clearly need to work on the width of the Blog banner as it is just not quite right. Too late for that now though - have you SEEN the time?!?! Goodnight!!

Lady Grey Sew-Along

2010-08-23T22:20:00.004+01:00

Just a quick note to point you in the direction of the Lady Grey Sew Along on Gertie's New blog for Better Sewing. We'll be doing the fabulous Lady Grey coat pattern from Colette patterns and there are details on Gertie's blog for getting a brilliant 20% off the price of the pattern.... go, go, quick get ordering!!

Holiday laughs

2010-08-23T01:07:00.004+01:00

J: "I spy with my little eye something begining with S"

K: (aged 3) "some toilets"

(We were in the train carriage with the toilet in but still)

*******************************
On the train - see we were on the thing for days.....

Answer to eye spy from B (5yo) was a character in a film he watched on TV at school - like a month ago, when no-one from the family was with him.... and he expected us to know exactly what "M" stood for.

*******************************

Safari park

Me to kids: "What do you like best so far?"

K: "The baflingos"

I spy with my little eye..........

2010-08-21T23:35:00.004+01:00

Sat around the train table on a loooong journey last week (well, it was 40 minutes but seemed to last days). I'd just left the Metro paper, sports page up, on the table when youngest son suggested "I spy".

B: "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with D"
"Wait, no..." (he then leans to his brother) "Who's that?"

J: "Steven Gerrard"

B: "Oh!!!! I did it wrong, I thought it was David Beckham...... I spy with my little eye something beginning with St"

:)

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-19T23:34:00.004+01:00

Yippee!!!!

7 weeks off in which to: tidy this tip of a house; sew and go to Legoland.

I finshed work today and as I move to another job in September I have had a weekend of various parties and do's.

Highlights of the last few days.......

being invited to the retirement of one of the teachers I respect more than any other - a guy who taught me when I was at high school.

being told I look absolutely fabulous by a guy I used to have a major crush on.... then him asking if I was with anyone!!! LOL

.. oh yeah .... how could I forget........ knocking an industrial size toilet roll into an empty swimming pool in front of 20+ children who thought it was hilarious as it rolled across the poolside, splashed into the water - swelled up instantly and then floated away as they were all creased up laughing!!!!!

What can I say? Clumsiness is a gift.

This week in bullet points

2010-07-11T00:32:00.004+01:00

Hubby's birthday last weekend x x x x x Daughter finds his cake as I am unpacking (yes I KNOW I should have made one but we did make cupcakes which were delicious). I tell her not to tell daddy about the cake as it is a secret. ............................ She immediately walks into the living room and tells him, in a whispered voice, exactly what cake we have bought him and that "shhhhhh, it's a secret." Kids!!!!!!!

Eldest son signed for local under 8's football team!!!! SO proud of my little man. He was measured for his shirt and everything. Saturday mornings will be even busier from September onwards as we get used to the routine of playing league matches each week.

School disco. In the years BC (before children) friday nights were about finding the shortest outfit possible (*blush*) and heading to clubland. Now that I am grown up and sensible and live in the adult world, friday nights are a wee bit different. This friday saw me serving hot dogs and cup drinks to 120 children aged 3 to 7, for an hour....... in the sweltering heat. Lucky me. I suppose I should count myself even luckier this time round. Next year my eldest will be in juniors, which will entail me doing the double shift of infant AND junior discos. So in october I shall be back again bemoaning the fact that I had to serve hot dogs and cup drinks to 240 kids aged 3 to 11, for 2 and a half hours. When that time comes please remind me of this fact.

Youngest son told me: "I'm a star mummy." I tell him that i know he is, but did someone tell him that at school too? Yes, his teacher. So I probe a bit more to find out what he did for his teacher to call him a star "Everything, she says I'm a always a star." I love that little guy.

Oh... and I have 5 and a half days left in work before the summer holidays!!!!!!!! Yippee

Swapsies anyone???

2010-07-06T21:00:00.002+01:00

No, not the gorgeous handmade lovelyness that many of us spend our time crafting.
Not, a themed swap parcel event............
Not even and idea swap.

A Panini World Cup Sticker swap.

I am drowning in the things and still am no-where near finishing the album (or for that fact, the second album that my hubby insisted on buying for son number 1 to have as his own.)

So, to recap out of a total possible 1280 stickers we need to complete the albumS.... we have.............................. nowhere near enough!

Anyone fancy doing swaps - I can post a swaps list on here and people can see if they have anything to take and offer in it's place.
It seems like it would only be worthwhile if we can swap quite a few at once - sending one sticker through the post seems like a waste of a stamp!

Any thoughts?!

Neglect........

2010-07-03T23:06:00.003+01:00

I've just been reviewing all my old posts as I seem to have had MANY visits from someone who wishes to use my blog comments to advertise their items for sale (Gucci watch anyone? Louis Vuitton bag?...... sigh) LOL

I cannot believe how poor I've been at blogging this year - 6 months in and I have made only 2 blog posts.... apologies for the neglect.

I have been reading all of my followed blogs and commenting on many of them but craft - and therefore my reason for blogging - has had to take a back seat recently due to work commitments and everything that comes with being a very busy mum of 3.

End of year report: "Must try harder"

Compliments

2010-03-28T00:10:00.003Z

I was asked today where my daughters clothes were from.. I do get asked this a lot (probably everytime she wears something I make) but the comparison today made me beam.

Lady: "They are beautiful.. are they from Next?"

Me: Nope... they're my own.. I made them.

Lady: :O

Me: :)

I need to make more clothes..... I can see a business venture coming on :)

All the way from Japan

2010-01-09T19:18:00.009Z

I recieved a very unexpected surprise gift from Japan a couple of days after Christmas.

I am known as someone who is very rarely lost for words but I am amazed at the package that landed on my doormat and can't quite work out how to say Thank You enough to the marvelous Rie at Sonatine. You may remember I posted about her fabulous shop a while back, well I got a mesage from her saying thanks and then this arrived.

Now she did say thay she would send something by way of saying thanks for the feature, but WOW - I wasn't expecting this!

Look - not one piece of fabric, not even two... but THREE gorgeous pieces of amazing Japanese fabric.

The mushroom piece is 20" x 22" - Look at the bee! I think I need to make a dress for my daughter using this one.

This Fairground piece is 21" x 22" and has so many beautiful images. The lovely little castle and fireworks, the bunny in a hot air balloon with a little flag stating "Versatile Entertainer". Oh so many lovely little images.

This Nutcracker suite piece is an amazing 19" x 50" and look at the detail and the sweet little figures. I think that this is destined to be a bag for my 2 year old daughter, as she is more than a little obsessed with handbags and loves the pattern of this fabric. Look at the red shoes!!

The quality of the fabric is fantastic, the items were beautifully packaged and arrived from Japan in a very short time, especially considering the busy Christmas post. If you want to buy Japanese fabric I would absolutely recommend buying from this wonderful seller. i will certainly be visiting her Etsy shop in the future.

So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

to SONATINE.

and

(I hope to goodness that this is correct..........)

ありがとうございます。

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T14:56:00.001Z

Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous new year to you!!!

Mini Giveaway - Poinsettia anyone???

2009-11-22T17:14:00.005Z

Okay - time to come clean.. I am a hoarder when it comes to crafts and want to try everything at least once - card making, scrapbooking, candle making, glass painting......... you name it - I've tried it.

My big thing when I was a teenager was jewellery making and a while back - trying to rekindle my youth no doubt - I decided to get this press mould of poinsettias and holly for my fimo clay. In my defence it was pretty and probably on sale at the time.

Anyway, it measures 3" by 1.5" and has only been used once (as you can see from the red fimo colour left behind :D), and never looked at since.

Rather than charity shopping it I would like to give it to someone who actually knows what to do with it. So stick a comment below and if I get more than one person wanting it I shall randomly choose a winner on tuesday night :)

Just in time for Christmas - do you know anyone who would like it - point them in the direction of my giveaway :)

It just HAS to be twirly........

2009-11-14T17:17:00.003Z

........apparantly nothing else will do now for my daughter who - at 2 and a half - is just a little bit obsessed with being a princess!

I needed to make her a new skirt as she has rejected everything else in her drawers as "not twirly" so I took the scissors to an old purple Coast dress.

I didn't do a before pic of the dress but what is left could be hemmed quite nicely into a hip length tunic for me. It was lined so I made the skirt lined and it measures a huge 133cm around the hem!!

Bit of ribbon and some buttons have transformed it from plain to this:

That pic makes it look lovely.......................

This pic is completely rubbish but for some reason I didn't take a better one?! The colour is just as the one above not the washed out nonsense you will see below :

One happy mummy and one very happy little K.

Sonatine

2009-11-08T20:25:00.005Z

I wandered into Sonatine on Etsy a couple of days ago and can't quite get over how beautiful the fabrics and tapes are.

I think my favourites are the Snow White fabric - which I know my daughter would love...

...... closely followed by these two.

....and I could think of lots of uses for this fabric tape.

Although I love this one too....

..... and this one!!

I shall clear out her shop the day I win the lottery!!!

How NOT to make a 4 year old happy :(

2009-11-04T22:52:00.003Z

Promise him his 5 metre swimming badge, tell him that he can definitely have one next week because you've none left to give him now (cue one VERY happy little guy last week)..... have him all excited ALL week - it's practically all he has talked about...... and then this week, tell him that you are not going to give him the badge you promised after all because he "didn't swim quite so well today".

I feel like crying for him. He is SO upset and has alternated between full blown snotty crying and quiet breaks-your-heart sobbing ever since.............

Strong words will be had between me and said swim teacher.

I don't normally DO black but I make some exceptions.....

2009-11-03T22:50:00.005Z

..... like this bag I made from a Bagladee pattern.

It was the pattern in the Sew Hip magazine a month or so back and I found that I had the perfect fabric for it in the stash. I used a black suede type material and a gorgeous silky lining with a funky print, which I finished with a black suede pocket and a fancy magnetic bag clasp.

The lining was, in fact, the only reason I would allow myself to make something in black as it brightened up an otherwise too-dark-for-me-to-ever-use item. Sadly the lining was the last piece I had and was only just big enough - I would have liked to try and match up the panels inside a bit in order to make it a little more of a professional finish but I am actually really pleased with the results.

I copied the motif from the side panel of the lining onto the front of the bag in a gorgeous raspberry pink thread just to add a little extra to the outside of the bag and to tie co-ordinate it a bit with the lining.

I did have a slight hiccup with it, not a fault of the pattern but rather of me and my iron see the evidence for yourselves. I had to add in a bottom piece to hide the hole (sobbing gently while I did it!!) and it turned out so well it looks like the bag was desinged to have a 'base' I think, for the material I have used, it also adds a bit more stability to the bag and makes it feel quite structured.

I must admit that although I have made a few bags before I really enjoyed making this one. I will be making a few more as a friend hinted that she "wouldn't mind one of those for Christmas" LOL

Thanks Bagladee <3

GIVEAWAY!! Grosgrain: Shabby Apple 'Dare to Design' Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-11-03T21:45:00.001Z

Not mine but the incredibly talented Kathleen at Grosgrain, she makes the most incredible kids outfits and the last two dresses (both can be won on her giveaways) are just amazing!!
Grosgrain: Shabby Apple 'Dare to Design' Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Re-design

2009-11-02T11:46:00.003Z

I have been meaning to spruce up the blog for a while as I have plans to make my crafting a far bigger part of my life and want to blog to be part of that too.

I LOVE the 3 column look as I think it makes things look more professional and separates out the page elements in order to make things more organised. Well, I know you can't 'get' one on blogger as standard but I found this website which tells you what to do step by step. I was a bit scared at first that I might inadvertently destroy the blog and have to start from scratch... but hopefully if you can read this then all it went well in Three Little Monkeys land.

Go me!!

From :( to :)

2009-10-28T22:17:00.003Z

The day started off well - for about half an hour. After breakfast I decided to do a bit more on the Bagladee Bag I got on the SewHip magazine pattern whilst on holiday. I started it yesterday and was very pleased with it but a bit scared that I might muck it up.

The first job was to press the seams out on the base of the outer bag.. the ones I spent AGES looking for the perfect fabric from my stash and then spent even more ages tracing and then embroidering a design which will complement the lining design perfectly.

I was SO pleased with it but stopped work on it early last night before I made any mistakes. Well needless to say I needed to iron for this step - for those who don't know i have a love-hate relationship with irons and ironing. The iron was still set up from last night so all I need to do is turn it on and press one seam, yup - you got it ... ONE.

Anyway this was the result..

Closely followed by a trip to Argos and this.....

Whilst I was out I got some of these to turn into babylegs for K.....

....and this - a gorgeous raspberry suede jewellery box

And you can see a small glimpse of the bag-to-be in the photos too.

Thankfully I managed to save the bag by adding a new bottom part to it and cutting the old burnt, plasticised bit away, amazingly it looks like it's part of the design rather than a fix it job. Not going to do any more on it tonight as I am too tired and will definitely make a pigs ear of it but hope to be able to show you a completed bag before the weekend. It looks great so far if I do say so myself.

Apart from the iron incident today has been a great day... the kids have been really good and my 4 year old got his 5 metre badge at swimming tonight so I am a very proud mummy.

Rae Gun Ramblings: GIVEAWAY: Japanese Fat Quarter Fabric Bundle

2009-10-26T21:45:00.001Z

A quick post and run before I go back to the sewing machine...

I have been investigating blog-world recently and have started to follow lots of new blogs. Mostly about fabric and sewing and clothes and sewing .. oh wait I said that already. I felt a loss this week when the daily blog posts from Amanda at Kitschy Coo stopped due to a very ill - at one point thought to be terminal - computer (which seems thankfully to have made a full recovery). I LOVE looking at all of the things that people create - and then moan at myself for not getting my butt over to the machine and making some more thngs of my own.

One of my news fave blogs belongs to Rae Gun, and at the moment (but get there quick there are only a couple of days left) she is having a fabulous giveaway of Japanese fabric - eeek! - rush on over to be in with a chance of winning
Rae Gun Ramblings: GIVEAWAY: Japanese Fat Quarter Fabric Bundle

.......and I know you'll be clicking the follow button whilst you are there :)

Testing, testing, 1, 2 ,3...........

2009-10-17T18:29:00.002+01:00

As soon as I saw a post over on Kitschy Coo asking for willing volunteers to test adult.... yes grown-up.... jacket patterns I very willingly put my name on the list. Even looking through the fabric stash to see what I would use if chosen. **blush**

Anyway I was chosen - YAYYYYYY!! - and managed to get a quick start on the pattern and - apart from a problem with my placement of the buttons - I am really pleased with it.

I did make a schoolboy error with the buttons but am going to sort that out tonight. I did the final fit late at night while wearing pyjamas and not wearing a bra, as I DO wear one during the day and especially when out of the house (!) - it pulls too tight across my chest!!!! LOL - what a banana!!!

You can see my work here and the other testers jackets here

Wow!!

2009-09-21T22:13:00.002+01:00

I can't believe it's taken me over a week to sit and write this post.

I have a shop on Folksy which I had HIGH hopes for but which has done nothing, not in a drama-queen over reacting kind of way either - really, nothing. The only thing I have sold is a pack of blank kilt pins - yup supplies. **Sigh**

So, in an attempt to sell something... anything.... I listed a few things on Misi - now I've had two slings on there for ages and despite lots of views, no sales. So I thought I'd try something different. I listed Theo on Misi, on a monday - he sat doing nothing on Folksy for 6 months, nothing- a day and a half after listing him on MISI and he gets snapped up. He is a brooch if you are wondering - about 2 inches across - a bit smaller than the pic below LOL

"YAY!!" Says me in disbelief, thinking the internet gods are playing tricks with my eyes.

then............

this was me................

as I realised that my little Theo - hand stitched by little me, was on his way to Jean at Little Scruffs of Evesham

A real life professional teddy bear maker. I still can't quite believe it!!!

Thank you Jean :)

Getting it in gear.......

2009-09-19T23:33:00.004+01:00

Motivation seems to have returned following a lull which began with the return to school and routine ........ my late nights (3am anyone?) were curtailed due to early morning starts once again.

During that time I have reorganised 'sewing corner' from it's temporary unintentional home in the dining room to it's more permanent home of 'behind the settee' *sigh* Luckily we have a very big settee which is an arc shape so there is lots of room behind it, but how I wish we had enough room for me to have a small corner of somewhere just for my fabric and machine to call home. You never know - my numbers may come up one day - though I am not Derren Brown. (Think he'd have put a ticket on if he really knew the numbers and didn't just have his fake half screen camera trickery!)

Where was I?.... oh yes motivation! I have been busy and have a load of projects that I am either part way through or have finished.

A raspberry suede cover for my teachers planner - I got bored of looking at the shiny yellow cardboard cover after just one day and made a lovely cover complete with pocket. It fastens with a large bright purple button and matching ribbon. I've already had lots of compliments on that one!

A note book case for my hubby complete with zip and suede lining. The first time I have attempted a zipped pouch and I followed these instructions from 22twelve. It is black suede with a fleece core and a baby blue suded lining. Fabrics and zip all from the amazing Abakhan Fabrics in Mostyn, North Wales.

A Kitschy Coo winter coat for my daughter in the orange and beige from this photo - with a hood and fleece core. Despite her age (2 and a half) she clearly has very good taste as she declared it "wewy beautifuw" when she tried it on. A real photo to follow when I get chance.

A pair of blue curtains for my sons room - to replace the pink ones that were there prior to swapping the childrens rooms round. He said he didn't mind having pink curtains but I did!!

Two beaded cushion covers for my in-laws caravan - four more to follow when I get inspiration. they want 'neutral' which I fear may turn out to be 'boring' if I am not careful.

Sadly, despite a good look through the my pictures folder, I appear to have taken no photos of any of them whatsoever!! Ah well, motivation has returned in some areas but is clearly still lacking in others.

The computer generation

2009-08-24T11:30:00.002+01:00

When snuggled up on the bed of my 4 year old son last night, reading him a bedtime story, I couldn't help but stiffle the giggles.
He always makes the same request when he wants you to turn back to a previous page,

"Mummy, scroll back a bit"

Up close

2009-08-22T22:28:00.006+01:00

Have been fiddling around with the macro settings on the camera today and am quite pleased with the results

And on a crafty note......these two are yet to be finished

They are also not yet named... any suggestions?

The "tiniest potato in the world"

2009-08-21T01:13:00.004+01:00

The weather was lovely this morning so I took the kids out in the garden to dig some spuds to go with the beef casserole for tea.

They LOVED it and were falling over each other to "find" each potato that was unearthed, fetching more and more bowls from the kitchen to collect them all. Most were decent size but there were a few very small ones.

Jack then very excitedly - and loudly - announces that he has "found the tiniest potato in the world" and kept repeating it over and over, "look Ben, it's the tiniest potato in the world" Look mummy, it must the the smallest potato ever", etc for a couple of minutes.

Then all of a sudden the excitement disappears from his voice, replced by a huge amount of disappointment as he tells me, "Oh, I just realised, it's not a potato at all..... it's a slug"

I didn't stop laughing for AGES!!!!

Mario Testino in the making.....

2009-08-19T14:32:00.006+01:00

This is what happens when you give your 4 year old the camera to take some photos.

These are Ben's latest shots....

and...........

Love that little guy!!!

Holiday by numbers

2009-08-17T13:28:00.006+01:00

Hubby and I couldn't really decided what to do for our hols as there was so much that we wanted to see.

Hubby wanted Stonehenge and Wiltshire...
Kids wanted Legoland...
I wasn't realy bothered where we went!!!

So we did it all.......

Cue my "holiday by numbers" (an idea blatantly stolen from Amanda at Kitschy Coo )

1 night in Wales.
2 nights in Nottingham.
4 nights in Elstree.
4 nights near Bath.
3 more nights in Wales.
1603 miles on car mileometer - that can't be right surely ??...... but we zeroed it as we left!!
1 cracked windscreen.
15,278 requests to go to Legoland again.
4 sets of Lego bought.
6 lego character models posed with for pictures.
23 pictures of my daughter sticking her tongue out when asked to smile.
1 Lego brick cake mould bought.
4 attempts at making edible cakes from Lego brick cake mould.
7 new pairs of shoes purchased.
4 underground trains travelled on - accompanied by Katie's loud screams of "my not like the noisy bus" for duration of each journey.
20 million underground steps we carried 2 buggies up and down - one with Katie still in.
5 - number of times I probably swore out loud at having to carry buggies up and down in underground in blistering heat whilst being shoved and pushed by ignorant commuters
2 hours spent running round the Princess Diana fountain in Hyde Park, with one in underpants and one naked..... with the third mostly sat on the grass complaining the water was too cold.
15 different playground we have found and played in.
30 miles travelled from point exhaust began to fall off to point we could stop and get it fixed.
1 man coming to replace windscreen tomorrow

Absent friends........

2009-07-31T01:03:00.003+01:00

What happened? How did all this time go by without me writing a blog post? It's not like I've had nothing to say.

I started a job - 4 days a week doing my old job - first job since my eldest son was born over 6 years ago. i can't imagine how nervous I would have been going back to work after that time if I was working at a new place. I got a maternity cover offered to me just as I had started to look for something and how can you turn that down? I'm there until February and, unless they miraculously find a job for me (or someone else has a baby which is unlikely) I'll have to start the job hunt again - something which I am not looking forward to as I love it where I am.

I'm off for summer right now and was hoping to enjoy lots of sunny days in the park with my children but that hasn't happened yet. Why is it that the sunniest weeks of the year so far were in June when all the children were stuck in hot classrooms up and down the country - not to mention the teachers - and now that the kids are off the weather turns.

Some people are winter people - I am most definitely a summer person - I love the smell of grass and washing which has been on the line, I love watching butterflies and finding the biggest snail we can (or the smallest) with the kids. I love getting the lid off the sand pit and helping the kids make big castles for their actions figures to play on.

We go on our UK holiday soon so please do all you can in order to send nice weather vibes to the south during August please. Holiday highlight for the kids will be Legoland, holiday highlight for me - Bristol balloon fiesta and shopping in London (well charity shopping in London no doubt!!)
Hubby - cheeky sod :D - said the other day that he couldn't let me go in any 'southern' charity shops as I would make comments along th lines of "hey, in't it dear in 'ere? Not like oop north, this'd only be 50p back 'ome" (just for the record I do not sound like that but my darling hubbys impression of me did for some reason.) Sad thing is, he is not far from the truth ... I would certainly think that ............. probably say it too actually!!!!

The only fly in the oinkment (get it - swine flu..... :|) regarding a getaway in a few weeks is that coming back from a friends tonight my car sounded VERY poorly, had a few dodgy noises and I think it is leaking brake fluid all over the drive as I type... I only had it at the garage yesterday for a check over/service to make sure it was okay... cost me £70 quid yesterday already. Wonder what tomorrows bill will be?? :(

Have been busy sewing and made the most adorablle superhero suits for my boys, a bag, a doll and a dress for myself... oh and two 'Indiana Jones' satchel bags for my boys to go with the fantastic 'leather' LOL jackets I made for them earlier this year.

The week I broke up - in fact the day after I broke up the whole family came down with swine flu - oink - and that knocked us out of action for a fair few days. All better now thankfully although I am having a bit of trouble shifting my rattly cough.

Any suggestions of must do things in London / Bath with kids under the age of 6??
We've a few on the list already but with weather like this we need contingency plans LOL

Right ......... off to bed - I promise not to leave it so long and shall be back with sewing project pics when I return :)

Sun!!

2009-05-29T23:33:00.002+01:00

What a beautiful day we've had today!

My eldest was invited to a friends this morning so after dropping him off I took the two little ones to the park with another friend and we spent 2 hours playing in the sun - I love it when kids smell of suncream!! LOL

The afternoon has been spent in the back garden and the children have a had a great time... plus I got lots of washing dried.

I've got lots of things planned for the weekend so would love the weather to be nice all weekend. I've tried to ring a number about 6 times today to try to get a pitch for a carboot (hoorah!) but it seems the number in the paper is a dead number and no-one wants to answer it.

I'll let you know how I get on - you never know come sunday night I could be writing a "how much I made" post!!!

Tag - You're it!

2009-05-23T22:46:00.003+01:00

I've been tagged by the lovely Amanda at Kitschy Coo to answer questions about "8 things...." so... here goes.........

8 Things I am looking Forward too.....

1. The Bank Holiday weekend and the sunshine we've been promised.
2. The half term holiday and spending lots of time with my kids and my hubby is off monday and thursday so we will get lots of family time this week.
3. Booking our summer holiday for this year which is going to be a bit of a tour of the south taking in a visit to Legoland! Yay!!
4. That carboot sale that I keep promising myself!
5. My two boys swimming lesson on wednesday, they've each been once on separate days (due to the chicken pox outbreak) and each loved it so I'm looking forward to being able to take them both together.
6. Trying to make enough small bags, slings and brooches to have enough stock to take a stall at the school summer fair.
7. Spending an evening next week gathering all of my family history research and making a start at organising it all.
8. Starting jogging again now that the summer months are coming,

8 Things I Did Yesterday...

1. Rubbed cream into son #1's chicken pox :(
2. Had takeaway chinese for tea - special chop suey and chicken with mushrooms shared with hubby. Gorgeous.
3. Spent about 3 hours last night listening to Spotify - my playlist is so big I'm considering doing a few and categorizing my music into different lists
4. Left work within 5 mins of the school bell going as it's the holidays!!!
5. Snuggled with the kids on the settee under a load of fleece blankets watching night at the Museum on DVD after tea.
6. Fell asleep snuggled under the blankets with the kids - who also all fell asleep - before the film ended!
7. Spoke to a lovely lady down south somewhere about getting fairtrade cotton bags printed up for the school PTA for fundraising
8. Took delivery of 200 plug plants which the school kids are going to pot up at holiday club for a plant stall at the PTA summer fair.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do....

1. Play the Saxophone
2. Speak Dutch
3. Speak Spanish
4. Play the guitar
5. Fit more hours into the day
6. Fly
7. Sing better than I can - I sound okay to me but you always wonder if you are actually one of those deluded fools on Britains got talent and actually you sound like a strangled cat.
8. Stay at home with my kids full time - I've just started work part time on a temporary basis and although I love going back to work and am really enjoying teaching again - I just feel like I miss my kids too much.

8 Shows I Watch....

1. Desperate Housewives
2. QI - LOVE Stephen Fry
3. Doctor Who (at least I will while David Tennant is the doctor!!)
4. The Friday Night Project
5. The Justin Lee Collins Show
6. Project catwalk and anything else fashion-y
7. Gok
8. ermmmmmmmmmmm...... Oh how could I forget! Curious George!

I can't quite fathom how that's taken me so long!! LOL. Here's the rules, just in case you want to follow them:

1. Mention the name of the person who tagged you.
2. Do the lists of 8.
3. Tag 8 bloggers of your choice.
4. Let them know that they have been tagged!

So, I'm tagging:

Tiny White Daisies
Dolly Knits
That's not my Monkey
Sharnemaina Knits
The Sock Bunny Blog
Black Rose
Sara Eden
Deadpan Alley

Late night showing

2009-05-09T23:08:00.002+01:00

My gorgeous baby boy is sat at the side of me watching Disneys Cars as he can't sleep. The chicken pox have invaded more and more areas of his beautiful baby soft skin as the day has passed, sadly the ones in more delicate areas are now preventing him from getting much needed sleep and despite being exhausted he is enjoying sitting with mum, our cat, a fleece blanket and his favourite movie.
Poor little chap is slathered in calamine lotion and dosed up with piriteze liquid and is still itchy but being very brave and has really resisted scratching so far.

I must admit that although I am giving him every medicine he is allowed to have, as often as he can have it, it is breaking my heart to see him in so much pain and discomfort. Especially knowing that we are bound to go through it all again...and again.. when it spreads to the others.

Being a mum is hard at times :(

Boxes and spots

2009-05-09T10:50:00.002+01:00

I feel like I've been letting the side down when it comes to this blooging malarky, some of my amazingly busy fellow bloggers manage to blog every day and still do the mum/worker/crafter/etc etc stuff as well - I just haven't managed to keep up. Something had to give over the last few weeks and it was the blog. Sorry folks.

Let me explain. I have a job starting Monday so will be working 4 days a week. In prep for my job starting I have been desperately trying to do "the big clearout" - you know the one you promise you are going to do and always have it on the list. The 'getting rid of the baby stuff' clearout - the 'we need to be able to see the floor of the loft' clearout - the 'my god the shed is full of junk' clearout, the 'I'll never fit into that again' clearout.

So the sorting began - so far I have tackled toys and clothes, not even started on the loft because if I start to bring stuff down now we will have no space left in which to live! I think most of the shed rubbish will end up being thrown as I don't think any of the junk in there is of anyuse.

I went to Ikea and bought lots of neat fold up boxes with lids and have sorted out enough stuff to fill 20 of them - which are now neatly stacked in the hall and on the landing awaiting a date........ for a .....drumroll please ....... bootsale!

I've only ever done one before and hubby complained like mad as he got a cold due to the rain and had to have 2 days off work - thus wiping out any potential profit we made on the day of the sale. I wanted to do a joint crap-clearout and crafty sale type bootsale with a separate section for each and try to get a few slings sold. Heck I might even sling a baby doll just so people can see what they are!

I set a date for this one, it was too soon and I'd apparently "not sorted enough out" so it was put to another date. That date clashed with a football match so has been cancelled too ... I set another date and, as predicted weeks ago when the school outbreak began......... my 4 year old now has chicken pox. I sometimes think the world is conspiring against me and someone is telling me not to bother with a bootsale at all. Maybe I'm destined to live amongst junk for the rest of my days (or maybe someone is trying to make me go to one which is better than all those I have chosen so far! Silver lining and all that jazz.)

It's typical that he has the pox now as when I did a bit of supply a few weeks back both my boys were ill. Our 6 year old was sent home on my first day as he was asleep at his desk and felt hot, on the second day I worked (with hubby off looking after 6 year old with ear infection), we had a phone call from school to say that our youngest son (aged 4) had been sick in front of an Ofsted inspector and could we take him home please?! His teacher later confessed that he had been sick twice right infront of an Ofsted inspector and said inspector had to take a big stride to step over said puddle to get out of the way! Go Ben!!!

Anyway back to chicken spots, the other two haven't had them yet (groan) so I fully expect that hubby will be off all week looking after one spotty child after another and moaning about having to step past those bloody boxes every five minutes.

Night Owl

2009-04-29T01:06:00.006+01:00

I've not had much time for sewing this week so have tried to make the most of tonight whilst the kids are asleep and the hubby was watching football to get something done. Well, kids are still asleep and hubby has long since gone to bed (look at the time!!) but.... I managed to get this done and am very proud of myself.

I have adapted Kitschy Coos Double Breasted Coat Pattern in order to give it a crossover front and a more open neckline to show off more of the lining fabric.

Amanda - I would love to know what you think of it :)

My daughter loves her hippo coats so I am hopeful that we can show this one off on the school run in the morning - heck that school run is just over 7 hours away. I'd best get to bed!

Wooooooooooo!!

2009-04-22T19:48:00.002+01:00

I've gone over 1000 visits on my blog!! Thanks to everyone who has stopped by :)

The best laid plans....

2009-04-21T23:08:00.003+01:00

What a day!

It was my son's 6th birthday party today.. a bowling party for 16 kids but somehow we ended up being in charge of taking most of them there and were due to have three cars with 4 adults and 10 kids leaving from my house to meet the rest at the bowling alley.

I spent ages today making sure that everything was sorted:
cake - check
napkins - check
candles - check
easter eggs - check (better/easier/cheaper than a party bag!!)
bags for presents - check
booster seats for extra children - check, check, check, check........ etc etc
tidy house for all the visitors - check ... well just about anyway.

Get back to mine after school and the third car has been hit at school and doesn't work properly anymore - kept cutting out, random lights flashing, strange beeping emanating from the dashboard...... argh!!!!

So we have to get a minibus taxi - at extortionate costs - to get this whole tribe of children to our own party! Are you beginning to think I should have done a barbeque in the back garden instead, because I sure was at this point!!

The taxi driver seemed to think that my husband and my friend were married and asked hubby, with a head nod towards my friend: "Are these all yours?" LOL Yes 7 kids all the same age.... :D

So it got me thinking how - despite the fact that all the planning went out of the window and we had to wing it a bit - the kids who travelled in the minibus had a real adventure and loved it. They played i-spy in the traffic queue on the motorway and not one of them stepped out of the minibus at our house with an actual easter egg - just the box and some silver foil where an egg used to be!!

What's the betting that they remember the minbus adventure more than the actual bowling party?

MISI favourites

2009-04-20T00:20:00.001+01:00

I took a step this week and started a shop on MISI - despite lots of promise the folksy sales have not taken off so I thought I would give another venue a go.

I have a link over on the right to my MISI shop - go take a look if you need a baby sling - or know someone who might.

In tribute to my new shop there I thought I would highlight a few MISI items which have caught my eye so far.

This Blue Brocade Party Dress by Flossy and Dossy is just the kind of thing I would wear - and it's my size!!

I love these Puss-Pots by noeymcelwee - so sweet!

Now pink is my very favourite colour, but recently I have been drawn to green and this apple mint handbag charm by Enchanted would look lovely on my new bag.

Speaking of bags - how cute is this? It is called 'Bag Emotika' by Tiko Tikoi and is just lovely!

Action shots ...as promised

2009-04-19T23:14:00.007+01:00

I have had a little bit of a coat making frenzy during the last week using Kitschy Coo's Double Breasted Coat Pattern and Tutorial .

Firstly I completed the red hippo print and made a pinafore dress to match, but wanted a smaller version of the coat which would fit my tiny daughter without having lots of layers underneath - hoping for nice weather clearly! - so altered the pattern and used my last bit of green hippo print cotton.

I then decided to be a little more daring and, as I had done two already, I was brave enough to use my very favourite brown flower print babycord along with a lovely thick cream cotton and a nice thick core fabric to make it a warmer coat and made it in the 18 month - 2 years size so should be just right come autumn.

Anyway... when I posted the hippo coat pictures, my daughter had been asleep when I took them, so I didn't get chance to show them off properly. Thanks to the gorgeous weather today - I am now able to show you the finished article on a little person.

Oh and especially for Amanda - I told you ...... wellies with everything!! LOL

How Pretty...........

2009-04-18T01:16:00.005+01:00

I just found the cutest blog on the block via Looby Crafts Blog and have had a little fiddle around with changing the look of my blog........ it's lovely!! Yay.

Free backgrounds which are VERY simple to add to your blog and pretty it up a fair bit from the plain backgrounds and layouts offered with blogger. I'm sure I'll change it at least once before the end of saturday so I may look different by the next time you pop by..... I think I could be here a while finding something which is just right!!

How did you get here?

2009-04-16T23:39:00.004+01:00

Had a look at my google anayltics thing tonight - you can already that I'm very technical with this stuff can't you? - I just fancied havign a nosy at how many page views I've had recently as I have neglected the blog somewhat in recent weeks due to family, sewing, tiredness and all manner of things. I figured as I haven't been writing no-one will have stopped by.

How wrong I was!!

I am amazed at how far and wide visitors come from and how so many far flung folk have managed to stumble across my little blog.

The list goes like this:

UK
USA
Canada
Australia
Malaysia
Italy
New Zealand
Belgium
India
Netherlands
Austria
Argentina
and one shy person who didn't let on where they are from!!

Wow! Thanks guys and girls - wherever you are from!

How do you answer this one then??

2009-04-14T23:42:00.003+01:00

My eldest lad - who will be 6 next week - is quite a little thinker. Always has questions about everything, where does stuff come from, who made it, why is that called whatever, etc, etc. He wears me out with his questions but I always like to try and answer them because he actually really listens and takes stuff in. He remembers everything you've told him.

This week we were in the car all chatting and listening to the radio. It goes quiet in between talking and J pipes up from the back:

"Mum, how did the first ever person on Earth get born?"

Can you tell that I like Hippos?

2009-04-11T08:22:00.013+01:00

I adapted the pattern as although they have lots of wear in them the gorgeous coat I made this week is just a bit too big on my dinky 2 year old daughter... so now I have a smaller version..

I have done the buttons - I braved a step into the world of self cover buttons and, with help from my gorgeous hubby (I was trying to clip them together all wrong!!), my next step will be to sew the buttons in place for a finished coat. (Ignore the unhemmed sleeves - I was so excited that my version of the pattern worked I just could wait to take the photos!!)

The fabric for this one was off cuts from my latest - and most favourite ever - sling. It is for a friend of mine in Brighton and hopefully she loves it as much as I do.

Please ignore the terrible pyjamas!!!!

A quick plug for my Folksy shop while I'm here.....

Oooh - I'm A Sewing Genius!

2009-04-08T14:42:00.011+01:00

Well, I'll come clean, actually it's not me that is the sewing genius - it the wonderful Amanda at Kitschy Coo.

I won a pattern for a double breasted coat in a giveaway a while back and have spent endless hours trying to get hold of a certain fabric to make it in - well I gave up in the end and went with something I already have...... and it's fabulous - if I do say so myself!!

Now I love sewing but have taught myself so am *ahem* lacking in some technical ability and language needed for shop bought patterns (i.e. I am more than a little useless) and although they always turn out okay I generally have to make things work my way and alter bits as I go along!! LOL

Now Amanda is a star as her tutorials are written in very easy to understand language and the pictures are clear enough for even me to understand what is going on.

The result being that - minus the buttons which I haven't bought yet - I now have, or well my daughter now has this.......

She was asleep when I took the photos so I will try to post one of her wearing it when it is complete. I can see me having a whole load of these in different colourways! Hmmmm how to size up a pattern for a grown-up I wonder????

For her amazing work - and guarantee of making me a proper customer when I get a bit more cash - I award Amanda this:
and send lots of these across the internet as a reward for her fabulous work :)

Yay for Folksy!!!

2009-03-13T16:45:00.006Z

Since the launch Folksy has been growing more steadily and more traffic has been coming to the site each month. Fabulous I hear you cry - more buyers!!! Well it sounds good but sadly the site has been slowing down with the increased traffic and it had got to the point where it felt like wading through treacle when attempting to list an item or even search for something you liked.

Not any more!!

The admin of Folksy have just this week moved the site to a new server and the speed increase is amazing - no more making a brew whilst waiting for a page to load (and that includes waiting for the kettle to boil). Last night when I was haiving a browse the pages were loading instantly and I really hope that it starts to bring in more buyers!!

Go have a see for yourself :)

www.rachel.folksy.com

www.folksy.com

2009-03-11T21:11:00.004Z

You know sometimes life works out just great and things fall into place and other times it feels like the world around you is slowly falling apart bit by bit?

Well about 5 years back we were definitely going through a world falling apart phase....lots of things went wrong and we had a very difficult few years.

Now it seems that the tables have turned and life is - thankfully - on the up.

A few weeks back I got a message out of the blue that the place I used to work needed someone to cover a maternity leave in a few months time and was I interested? Well - as luck would have it - I had been looking and nothing so far had 'been right' on all counts. I wanted part time and was told basically that whatever I wanted to work would be fine - so far so good. The only thing holding me back was childcare. Once I got that sorted - I was able to accept the job! Yay!!

I go in last week to be told that they need someone for a couple of weeks to cover illness and 'when can I start?!!' Many phonecalls later and kids happy with childcare arrangements and I am now a part-time working mum.
It's been 6 years and I feel like I've never been away! LOL I am loving it.

The best part is that the kids LOVE the childcare and I think I miss them more than they miss me. They've never had anyone look after them other that me and hubby so we were expecting a few tears and upsets at the change..... how wrong we were!! My eldest son was begging me to take him to school club tomorrow even though it is my day off LOL.

Oh - and we celebrated our daughter's 2nd birthday at the weekend so are having a great time all round recently!

Right - think it's time to make a brew and get ready for Desperate Houswives.....

and again......

2009-02-23T23:30:00.003Z

More LEGO today... a police station, a little set from harry Potter, a few little Star Wars sets and two very happy little boys. Ah!

Until you have kids of your own you wouldn't quite believe just how excited kids get about toys and things they love.
Think the youngest is getting to be a bit of a Lego fan now too.

and I've STILL not sorted it all out yet.... I thought I'd finished putting it into colurs last night, walked into the kitchen to make a celebratory brew and finally get to sit down, and promptly tripped over a HUGE box that I'd not yet done!! LOL!!

What Did You Build Today?

2009-02-22T23:04:00.011Z

I am not ashamed to say that I have probably enjoyed playing with my kids today more than they did! We did one of my very favourite things and something that the boys are going through a current obsession with - LEGO!

I love it. Sadly it costs an absolute fortune to buy and we were very fortunate a few years back to make a fabulous charity shop find. Huge box in the window with "Lego £10" on it, it ended up costing a bit more as we had to get a taxi straight back home as it's WAY too heavy to carry anywhere!!!

A little lego man is stood at the back of the box for size comparisson

The photo doesn't seem to do it justice - there is a full complete castle in there and an electric train set complete with controls, oh and a HUGE amount of Technics which I've not even started to look at yet! If I were ever to put it one Ebay I'd make a fortune. (But that's not going to happen :D)

Anyway we have spent hours today sorting and organsing and making lego sets.

I have searched for 'the pieces we had, and found which sets they are in, on The Bricklink and today have been building them up using the instruction scans on Peeron , find the set you want from the number or type or even year, and then get building!! Love it!

We have now made the Royal Knight's Castle, a fabulous Egyptian Temple from the Adventures series, a few random cars and things and for tomorrow have a Harry Potter set (which we bought separately) and a police station lined up!

I'm such a kid!

Friday Five.... In the Garden

2009-02-20T23:34:00.011Z

I've been tidying the garden this week in an attempt to prepare for spring planting so this weeks Friday Five are around a garden theme.

I love the colours of the Hot Pink daisy Print by Illusio Creative Art & Design. The image is so sharp and I love the water droplet. I want it!!

The Blue flowers Glass pendant by Auroraelle Designs is also on my wish list - I like the oriental look and the colours are my current favourites.

Now I have one of these in my back garden and cannot remove it for toffee!! That said I do love Lupins Tree Stump Felt Brooch. Somehow it reminds me of Enid Blyton and fairies living in the woods!

I couldn't do a garden theme feature without this one - the fabric features nature prints and birds (and it is the coat i won the pattern for!!) but the garden backdrop always makes me feel that I want to go outside and do a bit of gardening.
It is of course Kitschy Coos Double-Breasted Bird Print coat

My last item for this week means a little wander over the pond to Etsy, where I have favourited this lovely Passion flower Print by Aztec721. Passion flowers are one of my favourite plants of all time.

I suppose that I cannot do a feature on someone elses Passion Flower without making a small reference to mine also!! My Passiflora bag can be found at http://www.rachel.folksy.com/

...and yes I know it's AGAIN technically saturday but I haven't been to bed yet so it's still friday for me! Hey, this is early!!

LOL - the post is timed almost 45 minutes before I finally pressed 'publish' it must be the time from the first save - just shows how long I've been sat here!! LOL night all!

Hoorah!!

2009-02-19T21:31:00.002Z

Oh today was SO much nicer all round.

I intended to go to IKEA for a few shelves for the boys room but a quick phone call revealed that the delivery is either not there yet or has not been put out - Ah well, we'll go another day.

Instead we went out to play in the garden for the first time in ages, I tidied up and got a few plants in and it looks wonderful. The kids had a whale of a time and the whole day has been great. i can't wait to get out there again to get the veg patch prepared for new plantings.

To top it off I did homemade beefburgers for tea (one of my faves) with baby corn, sugarsnap peas and asparagus on the side - mmmm yummy.

Right - I've a custom sling to make for a friend and I'm off to get some of it done. Night

School holidays

2009-02-18T23:26:00.002Z

Until today I thought the school holidays had been wonderful and I have really enjoyed spening more time with my boys..... note the first part of the sentence... until today.

Do you ever have one of those days where you think that the words are not actually making a sound as they exit your mouth? they can only be heard by you and the cat and all children suddenly are immune to the sound of your voice?? Well that's me today.

We went to the local playcentre just after lunch - great place.... go in, shoes off, coat off and you only see the kids when they want a wee or need a drink!! Seriously - most of these ball pit places are dark and horrible but this one is lovely - huge and bright and sells lovely healthy food instead of the usual rubbish. It's very expensive though with entry costing over £13 for my 3 alone - that's with the youngest not even 2 yet!! Arrghhh

So we get there and I'm having a fabulous time as I had arranged for a few school mums to meet up with another school mum who emigrated 18 months ago and is back over on holiday. We were chatting and the kids were great, they seemed to be having a wonderful time too. As soon as we leave the arguing begins... irrational 'he looked at me' 'he said something' 'he breathed too loudly' type arguing that cannot be reasoned with and nor would you want to try whilst driving the car **sob**

Since we got back I have had requests for DVDs and to play Ratatouille on the PS2, my stock answer was "When you can show me that you can play nicely without arguing", needless to say they have had neither the DVD or the PS2 on and have gone to bed in a strop! Kids!!!

I'm so mean!

Oh and they get an extra day because of INSET - Roll on tuesday!!

Friday Five.... Valentines

2009-02-14T00:47:00.009Z

Again my theme is taken from what is happening in the world, of course being Valentines in the morning - arrghh TODAY!! - I had to go for that. I am really getting into the spirit of Valentines being the festival for those you love by featuring finds solely from folksy sellers this week.

First up, a very pretty pink heart pin from Lucy Jackson Designs - a very good price too.

My eye was instantly drawn to the love heart necklace from Ali Bali jewellery. It features my birthstone - peridot - and is a very simple, uncluttered, wearable piece.

Glamglass Gifts have produced this lovely Large Heart Tile Pendant. This, like everything else in this post is available to purchase on Folksy. It can always be a belated present!!

I can think of lots of uses for these polymer clay heart shaped buttons by Lilley's, the white is a shimmery effect which gives depth to the pieces.

And finally... how can you resist the gorgeous heart bunting from nickynackynoo, not just lovely for Valentines day but perfect for a little girls room too.

So, as it's way passed midnight and is officially St. Valentines day... look at the time :o .... have a lovely day - however you spend it :)

26 things about me..... :D

2009-02-07T20:58:00.004Z

I thought of another which I can't quite believe I missed off.....

Number 26:

I gave birth to my second child in the living room - that was a bit of a surprise :D He couldn't wait to be taken to the hospital to arrive and almost didn't wait for daddy or the paramedics either.

Friday Five...... Snow!!!

2009-02-06T21:51:00.010Z

It had to be done... the snow has been a HUGE news story so I just had to find my favourite snow themed items for my Friday Five.

My kids have had a ball this week and made a lovely little snowman in our front garden complete with hat and scarf. To be honest the snow we have had was nothing special - just like the snow we usually get - I think the worst of it was saved for the south and east. anyway I think more is to come so watch this space!

First up - I love this picture by Richard Johnson Photography, entitled snowy birches, which can be found on Folksy.

This winter themed bracelet from Noodlefish captures the feel of the season perfectly with it's blue, silver and white colour theme

This plaque from Etsy seller CountrysideSayings made me laugh I think I may need to get one for next winter!!

Another fabulous winter scene photograph entitled Lone trees from Etsy seller KMMHamilton - I love pictures like this - so crisp and pure.

Not content with looking at gorgeous images of snow - you can wear them too with some snowflake earrings from misticraven, these can also be found on Etsy.

I wonder if the snow will come again tonight?

Still on a snow theme but nothing to do with Friday finds... a friend of mine has been driving round with a foot high snowman on the roof of her car this week - her hubby did it as a laugh and it iced up overnight making it near impossible to remove!! How much did I laugh when she drove past!!! :D

25 things about me

2009-02-06T00:12:00.004Z

Now I've seen this on facebook as a few of my friends have done it but I haven't been bothered to join in, however I have just found a "25 things about me" on 'That's not my monkey!'s blog. Her 25 things all look really interesting and fascinating so I'm sure I won't live up to expectations but well - I'll give it a go nonetheless.

My 25 facts about me:

I am slightly addicted to dark chocolate and custard creams (but not together)
I don't drink tea or coffee - just boiled water (well cooled boiled water obviously!)
I would love to have more children - but finances have deemed that 3 is plenty (for now at least!!)
I nearly emigrated to Australia with hubby 7 years ago - and still occasionally have teeny pangs of regret that we didn't go.
My grandfather was a tailor.
I would love to be a fashion designer.
I always sleep curled up in a ball like a baby.
I rarely go to bed before half past midnight - a definite night owl.
My children have a thing for dressing up in bizarre clothes (swimming goggles on the school run anyone?)
I LOVE Stephen Fry.
My mum also loved Stephen Fry.
I would do anything bring my mum back.
Milk delivered in a glass bottle will forever remind me of my grandparents (was it the pasteurised stuff that tasted sweeter than the rest?)
My favourite colour is pink.
I don't like black very much at all - not even at funerals.
I have got my family tree back to 1700 on one line.
Me and hubby have the wrong date engraved inside our wedding rings!
We have enough books to open a library.
I'm very nervous about starting work again after 6 years at home with my babies.
I would love to go to Disneyland.
One of my ancestors was Sheriff of Nottingham.
I love the smell of washing that has been line-dried.
I have a part time job - let me know if you want to save money. :)
I am the only person in my family to have completed a University degree.
I passed my driving test at 8 1/2 months pregnant!! The examiner looked terrified!!! Ha haaa.

I'm not ignoring you......

2009-02-05T23:33:00.006Z

Just a quick post before bed. I've had the most incredibly busy 2 weeks and have not stopped for long enough to sit and blog, in fact most evenings I've not even had time **shock horror ** to sew :(

I missed last fridays 'Friday Five' so when I get back from the PTA disco tomorrow night I shall be doing a bumper edition of my Friday blog. I've already decided that it just HAS to be a snow theme this week with all of the wintery weather!

The reason for my absence I hear you cry?

I have been offered a job, so trying to work out wages, childcare provision for 3 children in 2 different settings and who could pick them up and at what time, how much all of this childcare would cost and what the government would pay towards it...... oh you get the idea... I've just been up to here **puts hand to forehead** with paperwork :(

The job is perfect for a million and one reasons and is too good to turn down - especially as they approached me - it'll break my heart to leave littly in a nursery 3 1/2 days a week but unfortunately it's got to be done. With the credit crunch and uncertainty with jobs .. well we'd be stuffed if anything happened and hubby was out of work.

I've been trying to get a second car sorted out for us as we'd each need one - about 20 phone calls later we are no nearer to getting the darn thing. Hubby also decided last weeek that he wanted a motorbike so, could I phone this man and arrange a check on the bike as well and then drive him 30+ miles round trip to go and look at the thing - only to decide he doesn't want one after all!!! LOL

I'm also in the midst of helping to organise tomorrow nights school disco so it's been busy, busy, busy with very little time for craft.

That said I did finish a bag last weekend and will get a pic up here when I've taken a good one... the one I had was a rubbish shot... oh you know, I'll just put the rubbish shot on... a blog post without a photo is just not right really is it? The fabric needs ironing before I do anything with it - it's destined for my Folksy shop though as it has the labels inside with my Folksy address in ***shameless plug*** http://www.rachel.folksy.com/

It's made with 100% cotton fabric, lined with a lovely soft cotton and is stiffened with interfacing in order that it stands up alone. I have used a mixture of unused vintage and new buttons and some lovely sparkly silver ribbon on the front and I am really pleased with it.

Anyway - have you seen the time?? I should be in bed otherwise I shall be too tired to publish my promised snow themed picks tomorrow!

Night!

CPSIA Blog-in

2009-01-28T22:24:00.009Z

The CPSIA is a little known piece of US legislation which, in 2 weeks time, is going to have a massive effect upon sales of childrens items in the US. In the current economic climate a ruling which forces testing of every single component in every single toy, item of clothing, kids stationery.... in fact anything which may be used by a child under the age of twelve............. is surely going to harm a huge number of WAHMs, small businesses - heck even big businesses.

If I were to use the same cotton, thread and buttons for a little girls skirt and for a shirt, the components of BOTH items would need to be tested to see if they reach safety standards - even though those components are identical in both items.

Fellow folkser Kitschy Coo has blogged about this and is part of a blog-in where hundreds of people will post the same piece of information on their blogs in order to spread the word.

No-one yet knows the implications of this legislation on UK sellers selling to the USA as the wording is unclear as to who would be ultimately responsible for the testing of the item. This has led to sellers of childrens items closing their shops on Etsy and other handmade sellers are stopping sales to the USA altogether. This law would even apply to charity shops selling second hand childrens items........... how unbelievable is that?

"As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They're banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we've seen in decades. I'd like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.

How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students:Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader:Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there's always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.Article from the American Library Association

http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade: Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist:Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper:Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur:Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector:Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy:Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.

To the Worldwide Economy:Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses. If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html

And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law: http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Did you know?

If this upsets or alarms you, please react.

Wordle of the Day

2009-01-24T19:30:00.003Z

I might start a small side bar thingy with my 'Wordle of the Day' as I love them so much.. can you tell?!?
I did my blog URL today so it shows what I talk about most... hmm.... I say 'today' and 'yesterday' a lot but mainly I have talked about 'thanking Amanda from Kitschy coo for the pattern in the post'... it seems!!

Oh it's tiny again - I haven't got the hang of the size thing yet... something else to learn what to do.

Friday Five.... New Items on Folksy

2009-01-24T19:00:00.005Z

I know what you are thinking... and you are right, but I got one of those ultra rare things happen to me yesterday - a night out! Consequently my Friday Five post is a little late.

I have been really impressed by the amount and the quality of the new items being listed on Folksy recently and wanted to share some of my favourites with you today.

This Handpainted Journal by Illusio Creative Art and Design is fabulous for Valentines day

I adore these earrings by Tesouro .... and the matching necklace is just stunning too

The twilight ring by Wildberry crafts is similar to one I owned (and lost) years ago and is one to go on my birthday list!!

I love the Geisha Gocco Print from Asking for Trouble - she has some very pretty cards in her shop and a few I have my eye on.

Lastly, this lovely little Pink Baby hat named Molly from the lovely Beaky is perfect for this cold weather and comes in a range od colours and sizes - what more could you want?!

The Pattern Arrived!!!!!!!

2009-01-22T01:07:00.003Z

Not had time to takle photos yet but just needed to say that the pattern and tutorial for the coat arrived today within 24 hours of finding out that I had won! how fabulous is that?? Thank you Amanda at Kitschy Coo

Going to take some pics tomorrow and get them on here when I get chance.

I do realise that it is WAAAAAY past midnight and the 'today' I speak of is technically yesterday and 'tomorrow' is already happening but............ well ........... it doesn't count until you've been to bed.

How cool is this?

2009-01-22T00:48:00.003Z

I stumbled across the website www.wordle.net yesterday while idly browsing a local history blog (exciting I know... *sigh*). they had a great little word filled image on there and clicking it took me to the wordle website.

You type in the words which you want to appear and any with a higher frequency are larger on the page and therefore more prominent. You can change the font, the colour, the layout, everything.

This one I think tells you pretty much everything you need to know about me right now.... get your reading specs out as it's quite tiny in parts!

Great isn't it?! Go and give it a try

All hail the winner!!!

2009-01-21T14:35:00.005Z

I have blantantly stolen the title of this post from a post on the blog of Amanda at Kitschy Coo as I was lucky enough to be the winner in her fabulous pattern giveaway.

I am going to be the lucky recipient of a pattern and tutorial for one of her gorgeous double breasted baby coats and am SO keen to get started... I've been checking out fabric this morning and the pattern isn't even here yet!

So, to Amanda.... thank you, thank you, thank you........

.....now I've just got to make sure that I don't mess it up and can post a pic without being embarrased about it.

What kind of food is Chinese then?

2009-01-17T23:29:00.008Z

What to do for Chinese New Year?
I would love nothing more than to put on a huge Chinese banquet for the five of us and dine in style but sadly that just won't happen. The 2 eldest little monkeys are generally not very adventurous when it comes to trying new things so would eat very little. The youngest would eat anything, the middle monkey would have noodles, plain chicken and veg and the eldest monkey would maybe eat only plain chicken and veg, now as that hardly constitues a banquet a scaled down banquet may be on the cards.
It mystifies me that they don't try new things as I eat anything, surely they should take after me?!

I was trying to explain to fussy eater number 1 (aged 5) that I would like to do a nice Chinese meal next weekend for the celebrations.

He looks at me and says: "Do you mean chips from the chippy?" (It's a Chinese chipppy)
Me: "No, Chinese food.... chips are not a Chinese food, I want to do a big Chinese meal."
Again he looks puzzled before asking: "What kind of food is Chinese then?" and just as I am about to answer you can see the 'lightbulb moment' flash across he face and he says with a massive grin "Oohhhh. You mean sausages don't you?"

Despite being told otherwise, my son is now convinced that sausages are a typical Chinese food !!!

Think I'll be making a few paper lanterns this week :) I can't wait.

Friday Five.... Wool

2009-01-16T21:24:00.012Z

I almost forgot to do this today... last week I featured my five Folksy favourites for friday. That's almost a tongue twister in itself that is!

Last week I had a common theme of red to connect my chosen items and this weeks Woolen theme is inspired by these....... I found the really gorgeous Etsy page of Mon Petit Violon with these hand crocheted slippers which I just thought look so beautiful.

These arm warmers from Dolly Knits are lovely and just the thing for this weather as I normally live in sleeveless tops but have to give in to sleeves over winter - these would solve my problems perfectly. I do love Dolly Knits things... I could team these with the fabulous cup holder I featured last week :)

I wish my daughter had smaller feet as i would love to get these crocheted booties in Bubblegirl Knits' Etsy shop - so pretty!

This cowl from iLEAiYEs folksy shop is in perhaps my favorite shade of pink - and I do love most shades of pink! LOL - and is very cosy looking.

For my final item I found it very difficult to choose just one item from Blue Fish Handmades Folksy shop but settled on these crocheted flower corsages one of her newest items in the shop and very beautifully done.

I've come over all keen to start knitting now! I can do it, and made countless blankets for my 'My Little Ponies' as a child but I'm afraid that is about the limit to my knitting skills. My Grandmother is a fabulous knitter and I did learn the basics but seem to have followed my grandfathers sewing and tailoring path rather than the woolen road laid down by my grandmother.

Where does the time go?

2009-01-15T13:07:00.005Z

I have got SO many projects on the go at the moment it's just silly, I am beginning to think that I shall never have time to finish any of them.
So.. a quick run down of the things in my 'to finish' pile...

A dress for myself - oddly in my normally-banned colour of black. I found this lovely dress on BurdaStyle which I wanted to have a go at. I didn't print the pattern as I can't stand dress patterns - they are too big and awkward to work with so I make the pieces myself. I have altered the design slightly though, making it sleeveless and slightly longer.... oh and I have done the neckline so that you get to see a flash of lining. The waistband is embroidered with a bright pink waves design and the lining is bright pink to match. Hopefully it will come out okay and I shall post a pic or two when it is eventually done.

Two Indiana Jones jackets - at the request of my sons. They got Indy hats and whips for Christmas and have been asking for an Indy jacket each ever since. Well at the price they are in the shops I completely refused and said we would look out for material instead. Found the perfect stuff in a shop the other day, I was passing a clothing shop and my eye was caught by the 75% off signs and a huge rack proclaiming "From £2" so we went in to have a peek.
To my delight they had row upon row of horrible brown pvc snakeskin skirts - which despite being dreadful for a skirt are just perfect for the long awaited jackets. The look on the assistants' faces when I appeared at the till with an armful of them - I wonder what they both thought of me!?!! Sadly I did feel compelled to explain that I was not going to wear any of them and would be ripping them apart instead to make things with. They clearly thought I was even more insane!

Two dolls - I have got two 8" tall soft bodied dolls made and partially clothed ready to be finished and listed on Folksy. I do love them ever so much and want to keep them but really mustn't. One is a little Japanese doll with gorgeous merino wool hair and is dressed in a kimono style top and skirt. I am also going to make her a robe and a dress. The second doll is a little more 'punk' with fine dusky pink hair and a pair of bright pink soled shoes (the Louboutins of the doll world I think). I have made her a gingham dress but she needs clothes which fit her image so a little pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a black jacket are planned but goodness knows what will actually be made when I sit down and do it.

Where was I.... oh yes, my continuing list of things to finish...

A couple of bags, another sling, LOTS of button brooches and a pair of fingerless gloves. Oh and a bag for myself which will be similar to my Passiflora bag as I love the brooch I added and need something to carry a folder to a meeting next week and would like to show off one of my own!!

I also have some beautiful japanese material which I want to make a bag with though I have not started that yet.

You know I didn't realise that I had so much that I want to get done... where does the time go? My daughter has become decidedly insomniac this week and last, so I am having trouble getting things done in the evenings as she is very hard to settle. We reached a new record 2 nights ago as it was 2.30am before she fell asleep - and then my boys got up at 7am wanting to know why the TV in the living room wasn't working and 'could I come and sort it out?' Honestly ..kids... who'd have 'em?

What's in your 'to finish' pile? Please tell me I am not the only one? lol

Mamma Mia!

2009-01-12T23:34:00.002Z

I finally sat and watched the DVD I got for Christmas last night..... Mamma Mia!

Now when I was little my parents (mainly my dad!! lol) were ABBA fans and I just remember listening to their music SO much as a kid. Consequently I love it and have been waiting to find time to watch the movie.

I feel like the last person in the world to have seen it but It's really good and I've been singing 'Honey Honey' all day long - and am listening to it right now - I've even printed out the lyrics to some of the songs to stop me from just making up the words as I go along!!

P.S. Just a little note for those of you who may be worried that I had dire musical influences........... my mum loved Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Sensational Alex Harvey band, Carlos Santana..... She was fab my mum :)

"Honey, honey, hold me, baby, ah-ha, honey honey"

"We Love Folksy"

2009-01-10T00:37:00.002Z

Just a quick pointer to the group I have opened up on Facebook It is for sellers and fans alike and will feature links to shops, photographs of items you can buy and the latest news about happenings on Folksy. If you have a facebook page you can join the group easily... go on, have a look - you know you want to!

Friday Five.... Red

2009-01-09T23:03:00.012Z

Many of my fellow folksers have been doing features on their blogs showcasing the talents of artists on the web. I wanted to do a "Thursday 3" but as my daughter has been somewhat of an insomniac this week I didn't get round to it so it has been postponed to friday... and I was able to include 2 more gorgeous items!!

I showed a pic of a beautiful red wool coffee cup holder from Dolly Knits on my blog a few days back. Inspired by the fabulous brightness of the colour which matches exactly my vintage Red Wool coat (which I must blog about another time) my first Friday five will all be around the theme of 'Red'. All of the items are available for sale at the time of writing.

So.....

This poppy flower brooch is part of a series of poppy flowers by Lupin and is just beautiful - I love the beads in the centre. It is for sale in Lupins folksy shop.

I think this Selina glass dish by glassprimitif would make a stunning table centrepiece and can also be found on folksy.

This needlebook from Paperfish is another of my folksy favourites... I love the concept of it and it is just so beautifully finished. In fact there are several to choose from which fit my red theme - the matroyskha one is another one I would put onto my wish list.

I do love this bag from Brigantia designs

...........and finally, away from Folksy for the last of my favourite five, to an Etsy shop of a friend...

Laura (A certain shade of me 85) creates lovely little i pod covers and this red one caught my eye for the HUGE button on the front! She has just opened up a Folksy shop and I will be keeping an eye out for her latest creations.

Look at what the Postie delivered.....

2009-01-08T13:28:00.015Z

I love getting parcels in the post, I've not ordered anything for ages but have made a few purchases during the Christmas holidays.

Today the postie brought...........

A sizzix die for my Die cut machine from ebay, I very rarely use my Sizzix for paper as it is for my felt work mainly

..................and I also got my labels for my handcrafted things

I ordered them from this listing on ebay

I had some for my sons' school uniforms but wanted some for myself!

Aren't those labels gorgeous? And a real bargain too!

You wouldn't believe how many attempts it took to get that HMTL correct!!
I'd put in a link to the site I tried to use but I have collect my son from school in 40 minutes and I doubt I'd be finished in time!! LOL

I Love A Bargain..........

2009-01-06T23:53:00.006Z

Oooh, really pleased with my finds today.

Went to post a couple of things I've sold and wandered into the charity shop on my way.

I picked up these buttons, the littlest ones are only 8mm across;

this HUGE linen tea towel with the most gorgeous print on it;

and a couple of magazines all for under £1.50......

I've earmarked uses for the buttons - I just need to figure out what to do with the tea towel.. a bag maybe??

I made this today too, a badge for a child's football kit bag... well that's what I think it would be, you could pin it anywhere.... but not until I've got it listed! I don't know where it is going yet, Folksy or DaWanda, I suppose it should be DaWanda as my shop there is pitiful...so much that I've not promoted it anywhere yet. I'll link to it as soon as there is more than just the one thing it currently holds!

My Car is Better!

2009-01-06T23:41:00.003Z

Hoorah! We got a call from the garage man to say the car could be collected as it's fixed - and it is fine - no horrible noises or smoke anymore!! LOL

It took the same amount of time for the men at the garage to fix the suspension and replace several lights as it took for one man to come and colect my poorly car from our house and deliver it to the garage. Almost 4 hours to collect the thing - after they had said it would be within an hour...how wrong they were.

My car!!!!!!!

2009-01-04T11:09:00.004Z

Tried to go bowling on Friday but it was packed so booked a lane for this morning.

Got the kids up and fed, all got dressed and ready then off we went - kids all really excited. Not even got to the end of the drive and the car sounds bad, we both get out and check, can't see anything untoward.
Set off again, get round the corner and it sounds like the brakes are on all the time, we drive round the block whilst deciding what to do and see clouds of smoke pouring from my drivers side tyre. Get back home and the suspension appears to have fallen off and is sat on the tyre. Oh joy.

Looks like it's the bus for me for a while.

Here come the Power Rangers

2009-01-04T00:14:00.009Z

My lads are Power Rangers mad.... and Star Wars, and Ben 10 and Batman..... you get the idea...... and as they love Power Rangers, so does their 21 month old sister.

Anyway I thought I'd make a little badge for each of them to wear. they are about 2" tall and are very lightly padded. I am really pleased with them, although you must excuse the shadow on the large photo - I didn't get my nice lamp out and the camera got in the way of the flash!! LOL

Now, those of you that know Power Rangers will see that I am several series behind the current one but I like these best and thought they would be nice to sew first - no doubt the Monkeys will give me custom orders for different series and different colour Rangers in the morning when I present them with these.

I also made a sling tonight, a black one with vivid pink rings - the contrast is beautiful. I have photographed it but it seems to have attracted every piece of dust in the house so it will need a wash and iron before I list it. I think I might try it on Dawanda as I have a few on Folksy already.

Holidays

2009-01-03T14:57:00.008Z

Work, school and nursery holidays are coming to an end and the daily routine will begin again on monday............ how I shall miss the holidays.

Right now our littlest two are asleep and the eldest is reading a book on "How to draw Star Wars, hubby is chilling on the settee sharing Bs blanket with him and I have been faffing around on here nosing through Folksy, checking my shop and if I have any more views on my items. I've just ordered some woven labels to sew into my bags and on my slings ..oh... and my felt squares arrived this morning but I haven't had chance to look at them yet.

I organised my sewing stash last night and this morning and have managed to get it down to 5 boxes!!! 5, I need to start making more.

Whilst I was in Folksy I found this from brand new folksy seller Dolly Knits - if I did a commute this would be first on my wish list!! think I shall have to mentally pencil one in for when I return to work.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2009-01-01T22:27:00.004Z

A quick post to say that I hope that 2009 brings everything you hope and wish for.....

What will 2009 do for my crafting? I am hoping to see increased success with online sales and am considering making enough stuff to be able to do a craft fair come late spring / summer time. I am going to open another shop - possibly on Dawanda to try and get the European market, I think unfortunately Etsy is probably swamped with the kind of stuff I make.

Speaking of making more stuff - another button badge: Charlotte Blue.

Am finished with button badges for now, am going to focus on those Japanese dolls.........

Matroyshka Fabric!!

2008-12-30T23:40:00.004Z

Just been to Nuno-plus and bought this fabric...............

Yay!

I will be creating some brooches with snippets of it, and other little stuff, but may even accent a sling or two with some sweet little Russian dolls.

Theo

2008-12-30T23:05:00.005Z

I made this one today..... a little soft furry brooch, his name is Theo and you can find him in my Folksy shop.

How Gorgeous is this Bag?

2008-12-30T00:57:00.007Z

Have just completed this bag and listed it on Folksy - check the link on the right!

I have named it 'Passiflora' due to the beautiful large passion flower brooch I have accented the bag with, it co-ordinates perfectly with the lilac satin lining - the name was an obvious choice really, it couldn't have been anything else!

I am really pleased with the way it has turned out and need to make one for myself, I'll need to check out how much material I have left!

I am certain that I will be making some more of the brooches in different colours to sell seperately as I love it so much.

I also made another small button badge I've named the 'Charlotte' brooch, this one is the pink version. I can see many other colours of charlotte being made over the next week or two!

Russian dolls

2008-12-27T23:38:00.004Z

How could I forget these from my list of things I love??

I have a mild obsession with Matroyska at the minute and am going to make some Russian doll brooches when I have finished the Japanese dolls I am making clothes for. I've already done a few sketches to plan what I want to do and have a good idea of what they will look like...I'm just itching to get started.... and on that note - I'm off to the sewing machine!

Night

A new sling listed

2008-12-27T23:23:00.007Z

I listed another ring sling on Folksy today - a really stylish black one with silver Slingrings. The new black sling has a folded shoulder, most of my slings have a pleated shoulder but I have recently started to make folded ones just to have a bit of variety and offer different things to potential buyers. I am really pleased with it.

I am just taking a break from sewing to come and write but I have been doing some doll clothes tonight. I have 2 small soft sculpture dolls which I am making at the moment and they are coming to the point of being done. They both need noses and one needs her hair seeing to but other than that it is purely down to getting their outfits sorted out. I have done them one each but think I will make a change of clothes for them.
I hope to have them listed on Folksy fairly soon too, so will let you know when that happens. I suppose I need to get some pics of them on here to show you the work in progress.

Christmas Shopping

2008-12-22T23:43:00.002Z

Just got back from Tescos, it's chaos!
I went this afternoon with the kids and spent over an hour trawling round to buy DVD's for hubby. It was packed and we had to park as far away as it is possible to get in the car park.

Hubby collected the turkey from work today, so as we now know how much space we have left in the fridge and freezer, the rest of the shopping can be bought. So I go at 10pm, car park full - again! Tills - queues of about 5 or 6 people on each one. My till gets closed after me as the cashier is only 17 and has to go home at 11pm!! Bless, so as it's past his bedtime, we have to queue even longer as they don't have anything like all of the tills on - arrrggghhhh! lol

I wouldn't mind but the shops only actually close for one day - ONE DAY!!

The plan was to wrap presents when I got back but as our daughter is still awake (look at the time!!!) that will have to wait until she's asleep, I may be awake for some time.

Inspirations

2008-12-21T13:30:00.006Z

I suppose I'd best write a bit about what makes me tick and where I get my ideas from.

I have crafted since being a kid and have done loads of different things but always seem to return to working with fabric, think it's in my genes as my granddad was a tailor. I use the sewing machine I bought for my mum for her birthday about 6 years ago - a toyota which is a bit temperamental at times but does the job I need it to. One day that baby will help me make my fortune!!!!

I suppose if I'd not been so sensible and opted for a teaching career, I'd have done a fashion/textiles/design degree instead and done something in fashion. I still think when I go back to teaching I'll do GCSE textiles on the side!!

My inspirations............

I love Japan and spend hours looking at beautiful prints and pictures. I love Momiji and Hello Kitty, and really fancy having a go at making my own 'Dollfie' type doll as you can buy all the bits to make your own custom doll - just like a Barbie but some are 60cm tall!!

I am currently making two small fabric dolls which I adapted a pattern from Kyoko Yoneyama. I love her books and have three - only one is written in English! The Japanese text is not an issue as they are so clearly laid out and beautifully photographed. I'll get some pics of the insides pages of my books on to show you.

When I finish my second bag tonight I intend to start doing the dolls faces and clothes - when that is done they will be finished, photographed and listed on Folksy. I'll get some photos up here too as I think they will look great.

I yearn to visit Japan but with 3 small kids and no money that will have to wait for quite a long time. I have some beautiful items from Japan as my Omas friend worked out there for Honda so he used to bring us things back - Scarves, chopsticks, fans and a lovely little mirror.

.......Maybe if we win the lottery :)

Bethlehem

2008-12-21T13:24:00.003Z

Sat with eldest son and baby this morning as an advert for a programme came on the TV. It showed a man on a donkey on his way to Bethlehem.
I say to them: 'Look, that's just like the Christmas story isn't it? Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem with a donkey'
Youngest son playing with lego, shouts in from the back table: 'Yes but they got there already!'

My New Bag

2008-12-20T21:23:00.004Z

I felt like making something new last night, I have a couple of slings to make but fancied something different.....

So.... I made a bag and I am SO pleased with it. It's very plain though but I cut material for 2 so the second one - which I hope will go into my Folksy shop - will be adorned with embroidery or beads or whatever I find in a minute!!

To say I never just started making it and didn't have a plan or a pattern - I think this is brilliant :)

Father Christmas

2008-12-19T00:26:00.002Z

My lads had Christmas parties today at school, both visited by the big man in red.

I was chatting to them this afternoon about the parties and the Santa visits, to which eldest son (5) says: - 'It wasn't Father Christmas, it was the magic man' (they had had an entertainer in). 'Oh,' says me, 'Really, how do you know?'
Son: 'He had the same voice'
Me: lol

So I start on to littlest son about his visit and how FC had given him a present;
'Yes Mummy' he says, 'but it wasn't the real Father christmas'
Me: 'It was '
He starts rubbing my leg reassuringly: 'No mummy, it was just Mr ******' (husband of his teacher!!!)

Kids!!

Christmas Stockings

2008-12-19T00:20:00.004Z

I'm quite proud of these - very simple but took ages!!

I even did one for the cat!! Okay I messed up a bit as I did it the wrong way round to the rest of us.. but hey, he's a cat - I don't think he'll notice!! :)

Oh bother....

2008-12-17T21:09:00.004Z

Well I started the Red sling but the fabric is flawed and I only noticed half way through. grrrr.
Looks like it's cream instead - not decided on the rings colour.

Todays project has been making felt letters to personalise all the families Christmas stockings...even the one for the cat!! Just going to pin them in place now and I'll hopefully then start sewing them when Desperate Housewives finishes - work has to stop for an hour every wednesday night for that!
I'll get some pics of them on later.

In the beginning.....

2008-12-16T21:40:00.000Z

Well I had to write something to start this thing off!

The last week has been really busy, I have become a member of the Folksy community and when I get chance will get a badge to link to my shop there. I have not had so much chance to craft being so close to Christmas, as other things have taken over but I'm going to go and start a new Ring Sling in a minute with a brew by my side. I'm thinking red and silver....