SwirlyThoughts

My Place and Yours - outside

2012-02-05T20:34:00.000Z

I'm joining in with My Place and Yours again this week and the theme is 'Outside'

Atmospheric no?

Elvis the snowman - see his quiff under his hat?

Proud snowmen makers - Matt was taking the photo :)

Sledging fun! We don't have a sledge so we used green garden waste bags. The girls (and I) thought it was great fun!

Join in over here.

A crafty mishap

2012-02-04T15:48:00.000Z

I'm making some baby quilts at the moment but I really don't like binding quilts so I'm using a different method - basically making a sandwich by sewing the fabrics together back to back to form a kind of pillowcase with a layer of wool blanket in the middle that is then turned the right way round.

So far so good - waiting to be turned the right way round.

Can you see the mistake? I put the wool batting in the middle the wrong way round and when I've come to turn it the right way round the batting is now the back piece! Ooooops! Kind of a big mistake but the blanket is quite nice. Should I use the blanket as the backing anyway or unpick it and re-sew? I can't decide!

Otley Courthouse

2012-02-03T21:06:00.001Z

There is a new place you can see my work :) Otley Courthouse in, strangely enough, in Otley! The lovely Bec from Do You Punctuate? took some photos for me as I didn't take my camera!

My chickens and gift tags will only be there for February so if you like what you see in the photos then get there quick! My stuff may be back there in the future but I will (of course!) let you know :)

Happy Birthday to me!

2012-01-30T11:14:00.000Z

You may have guessed by the title that it is my birthday today - I'm 34 :) And I'm a very lucky ducky - just look what I had to open this morning!

This record player brooch was bought by Tara - isn't it cute? It was made by Sugar Cookie and I love it!

Anya bought me this gorgeous purple button necklace - she knows me well! It's from Planet Button on Folksy.

I LOVE Mikiep so Matt ordered me this Best Friends print :)

And he also got me some badges from Bean Forest :) I love their badges!

And we also went to an antiques place* yesterday after lunch (we ate out!) where we purchased these 10 Martin Beck books for the grand sum of £2 - yep 20p per book :) I'm hoping we enjoy them (I've heard good things) but for 20p per book we thought we couldn't really go wrong!

*I know these aren't antiques but they have a shelf full of books at 20p each for Help the Heroes and needless to say I always seem to come out with something from there! Plus we did buy some things as presents but I can't show you them here just in case my parents get internet before Christmas :)

My Place and Yours - Green

2012-01-29T06:57:00.001Z

Yay - Vic has brought her meme back and as I like a bit of green I'm joining in!

This quilt top was out yesterday as a picnic rug for the girls and their friend who came home with us after ballet.

My nasty dining room carpet - it was put in by the previous owners and will hopefully be going this year :)

It must be a sign - the top of the newspaper showing off a booklet about how to make the most of your time. Do you think I will make time to actually read it??

The mint green roof of the girls toy house.

The view from our bedroom window - even in winter it's fairly green. It must be all the rain! I'll try and remember to take a photo in the summer - gorgeous with the trees full of leaves :)

A money plant in our bedroom - I'm glad it's green as there is an old wives tale that if a money plant survives and thrives then your home will never be short of money :)

And Andy Android - a present for Matt at Christmas from the girls. Seems he likes relaxing on the cheat quilt which is currently on our bed!

To join in with the green theme head over to Punky and Me.

Thrifty and fabulous Thursday

2012-01-28T14:55:00.001Z

Thursday was a busy and fantastic day :) I went to see two shops - one already stocks Swirlyarts items but the chickens just weren't selling there so I collected them and have arranged to take in some new stock to see if that fits the area better than the chickens did! Fingers crossed! The other shop is in Accrington and is called One Planet and stocks Fairtrade, upcycled, and recycled goodies along with local items. As my stuff is upcycled and eco friendly AND I'm local I thought my work would be a good fit. And the manager agreed! So I have another order to make for there too :)

As you may have guessed it was also a good day for thrifting - and when I say good, I mean fantastic! Be warned - they are lots and lots of pictures!

The bottom 3 books were 3 for £1 and the top one was 20p. All look brand new!

These magazines were 20p each and have already been cut up for my inspiration book!

This is a huge piece of fabric and it was only £1!

This pair of tablecloths was also just £1 :)

Two shirts - the one on the right is a Fat Face one and cost £2.95 and the one on the left cost £3.49 and has tiny birds all over it!

This dress was £1.00 and is for Tara.

This tank top is for Anya but I'm not sure she likes it so her sister may well get it instead! It should have been £38 but I got it for £5.99 - still complete with tags :) It's handmade too!

Two cardigans - the one of the left was £4.49 and the navy one was £3.99.

This large button is actually a mini sewing kit :) It was mine for £1.

The Fraggle Rock jigsaw and the napkin rings are for Anya's Attic - I couldn't resist!

This little guy is part of a pair of bookends and were £2 :) He is resting on the best buy of the day......

A bookcase for £4! Yep really :) The girls books were stored in two orange boxes and they weren't easily accessible so I'd wanted a bookcase for that space for ages. The thrift gods answered my prayers!!

And these clogs were £1 too!! I'm not sure if they are branded or not but the label inside is ripped.

I'm sure I have seen clogs with this kind of yellow and blue label before but I can't for the life of me find any reference to it at all. Does anyone else know if I'm right or if I'm imagining things? :)

*Yeah* The Eternal Magpie swooped in and told me that they are Torpatoffeln clogs :) I don't have to wrack my brains (and google) now to find them!

Love is in the air :)

2012-01-25T10:56:00.000Z

Or it may well be with these new gift tags!

I listed them on Etsy and Folksy yesterday and they have already been featured in a treasury!

Fabric

2012-01-24T06:00:00.001Z

My friend wanted to go to Sams yesterday so I just had to accompany her didn't I? She actually wasn't sure of the way so I had to go really! I got a *few* more bits of fabric and I photographed the best two for you.

Cute robots :)

Magic trees :) Both fabrics are by John Lewis and quite expensive normally. Lets just say I paid nowhere near the retail price!

Look it's me! Being slightly famous!!

2012-01-22T13:15:00.000Z

Artists' Hang Out from Lewis Rennison on Vimeo.

I'm in the red skirt being the life model! I look really cross and grumpy but I was trying to concentrate on not moving :) If you are near Colne/Skipton etc and are interested in attending Artists Hangout then look at the group on Facebook - it's a great way of meeting lots of fellow crafty/artistic/musical people.

The video was made by Lewis Rennison :)

My next big project!

2012-01-21T06:40:00.001Z

About a year ago I blogged about the camp blanket that my mum gave to me so I could cut the badges off to use on my own blanket for the sofa. Well I have finally 'found' a blanket that will be perfect for it. I say found in inverted commas because the perfect blue blanket was in my stash all along and I didn't realise! Oooops! Maybe a case of too much fabric?

The patches are a mixture of some that belonged to my mum (and my sister as she gave me her camp blanket too - nice sister!) and some that we have collected since then. It's surprisingly tricky to find sew on fabric patches when you visit somewhere new!

Although judging by the pile I have, I'm not doing too badly!

The blanket will be backed with something (I'm not sure what yet though) and the amount of patches to be sewn on will keep me busy for a wee while!

{This Moment} Mummy and Tara drawing

2012-01-20T14:44:00.000Z

Tara - home from school with a sore throat but not ill enough to lie on the sofa and she wanted to do something so I printed out some colouring sheets.

Me - desperate to catch up with some work. My work is in the foreground - all blurry - but I am drawing robot gift tags.

Inspired by Soule Mama.

Lovely things :)

2012-01-19T05:38:00.001Z

I entered a competition to win a Betty Jo upcycled brooch and didn't think I would win......but I did! It was for a hybrid brooch and you had to come up with a mixture of two animals. I joined together an owl and a dolphin to make an owl-phin.

And there he is swimming and flying around! Isn't he cool? It arrived on Tuesday - only 6 days after it was posted in Australia! Liz makes brooches out of discarded lino, buttons, embroidery and lots of other things so is right up my street as a fellow upcycler. And I got an extra brooch too which is perfect for me!

An egg brooch with a chicken attached! Isn't it fab? I just have to decide which one to wear first!

Good and Happy Things!

2012-01-18T14:12:00.000Z

I've been following Pip's Year Of Good Things and I have been joining in but not documenting it. Matt and I did a good thing this morning by going to see Anya in her recorder assembly and cheering her on - she was fab! I also did a good thing yesterday and went shopping with my mum - she had to return a dress and wondered if I would like to go too. So it was a good thing for her and me! You can totally do all the good things for yourself if you wish but I think it's good to strike a balance - strangers, friends, family, loved ones and yourself. So while I was shopping I bought a couple of things and decided to share - sharing the goodness as it were!

A cute Cath Kidston beaker for 50p - it's going in Taz as an extra cup, mug etc when we can't be bothered to wash up!

An apron - I can't decide whether to keep it as an apron and sell it in my vintage shop or to use the fabric for chickens.

And the cutest green velvet doggie draught excluder ever! He is called Dereck and he is fabulous! Love his little tongue! I found him in the second shop we went in so I had to carry him around for the rest of the day. My arm hurts today but he was worth it :)

So good things all round!

Some changes :)

2012-01-16T06:06:00.001Z

I went to a networking meeting the other day as an 'advisor' to people on setting up online shops through a local craft group I belong to. I gave some advice which I hope was well received! Rachel Johns was also there as an advisor and gave us some very good advice about Etsy, Facebook and Twitter.

Lion gift tags - just because!

Rachel has recently turned her Etsy shop back to US$ as she had noticed a dramatic drop in her sales when she had changed it to GB£. I changed my shop to GB£ when the announcement came out from Etsy that you could choose your own currency. I've also noticed a downshift in the number of sales I am getting through Etsy but put it down to the recession etc. Anyway I have changed my Etsy shop back to US$ to see how it goes. If it doesn't work out then I can always change it back again. It will be a bit more work for me as I will have to check the exchange rate fairly regularly but not too much and if the benefits are good then I won't mind at all! Rachel also pointed out that as Etsy is an American site, most buyers go to it geared up for spending in dollars. People in America expect it and if anyone from elsewhere in the world is going to Etsy then they will be willing to buy in dollars anyway.

Peter and Jane stickers

Matt also pointed out that most people in the UK have a rough idea of what a US$ is worth against the £ and I'm pretty sure that his logic applies to most other countries in the world. However, he pointed out that many people in America won't know what a dollar is worth against a pound, a euro or an Australian dollar. Another valid point!

Rachel also talked a bit about automatic updates to Facebook and Twitter. I am an avid Twitter user but I used not to use Facebook at all - maybe once a month. I do have a business page alongside my personal page but it wasn't being updated. So I set up automatic feed from my two shops so that when I listed something new, a post would automatically go to Facebook. It worked for a while and did the job of making sure that my Facebook page ticked over. And it did just that, ticked over - nothing more. Rachel said that she got a lot more response on Twitter when she added a link to her blog herself rather than as an automatic update and I must admit that I have found the same on Facebook. So the automatic updates have gone from my Facebook pages - any updates from now on will be typed with my own fair fingers :)

If you have an Etsy shop I would love to know if you sell in your own currency or in US$ and what your experiences have been. Also any Facebook or Twitter stories are welcome too :)

Oooooh shiny toy things without the shiny toys!

2012-01-14T07:44:00.000Z

I like Instagram photos - they look fab and very retro which is my kind of thing but I don't have an iphone, fondle slab or even anything that takes photos without actually being a camera (I'm a philistine like that!) However, after an early morning Facebook chat with Vic from Punky and Me I researched How to get an Instagram effect without an iphone and I got quite a few results :) The one I like the look of most is Pixlr-O-Matic. This is what I did in two minutes this morning (and bear in mind it's early so I'm slightly sleepy and therefore it must be easy!)

The original school photo of the girls.

And the manipulated.

Quite cool eh? And it was very simple to do and there are lots of options to choose from. I think I'm going to be a fan of this!

Matt has an Android phone and got some rather cool effects from Lightbox. And exciting news for us philistines - there is an online version so you don't need fancy phones!

Expect to see lots of super shiny edited photographs from me from now on :)

Linen, doilies and a duck........

2012-01-13T06:03:00.001Z

........are some of the things I bought at an auction yesterday :)

Doilies and linens :) Two whole boxes!

And a duck egg crock. We *may* not be keeping it but I think it's fab :) Look at the little duckling peeking out! I bought some more things and they will be slowly added to my vintage and supplies shop :)

*Apologies for the dodgy photo's - it was dark out and my kitchen isn't exactly brightly lit!

5 year Etsyversary!

2012-01-11T06:51:00.000Z

Today it's the 5 year anniversary of the opening of my Etsy shop. How exciting :)

The very first thing I sold was a set of 17 Care Bear mini envelopes.

Cute aren't they?

So to celebrate I am offering free shipping on anything in the shop for a whole week :) Oh and lots of things will be moving into my sale section too. All you need is the coupon code which is 5yearetsyversary. Go buy!

My Desk

2012-01-10T14:03:00.000Z

At the moment my desk is covered with these gift tags.

They have been sitting in piles on one side of the desk waiting to be glued onto cardboard backs for at least 6 months. They are lying like that as they are drying - yep, I finally got round to glueing them together! So tomorrow I will be tidying the edges up, punching holes, photographing them, putting string on and packaging them up. Well hopefully! But hey, it's one thing off my to-do list :)

So our internet went down....

2012-01-09T10:40:00.000Z

Stupid internet! It's back though now which is good. Now I can bombard you with pictures of what I was doing last Wednesday :) Exciting huh???? :)

Business card sewing

Making and photographing stock

Admiring my slightly neater scrap pile :)

Finding some fabrics I had earmarked for quilts.

Photographing the (very) fleeting blue sky.

And some fun sewing with Tara after school.

Tidying can be good

2012-01-04T05:53:00.001Z

Especially when you sort out your pile of Liberty fabric and make it all tidy and sorted :)

I can be organised.

But not that organised! This is my scraps pile and it's made up of fabric to be used as business cards and fabric to be turned into chickens. My job today is to separate the piles and then turn the bits that are destined to be chicken into chickens. Wish me luck!

Ken Bruce egg cups :)

2012-01-03T09:17:00.000Z

Christmas presents for me and Matt but I think the girls have claimed them as their own :) Gotta love a bit of Ken Bruce in the morning!

Cool video

2012-01-01T11:41:00.001Z

The video for this song by Kina Grannis took two years to make and it used 288,000 jelly beans!! And the song is great too :) A happy song for the start of 2012.

A crafty round up of 2011 - in pictures!

2011-12-31T06:41:00.001Z

1. Gene the buttontastic chicken doorstop, 2. New sticker packaging, 3. Lots of mini badges, 4. Upcycled/recycled owl gift tags, 5. Ta_dah. The baby quilt!, 6. Colourful crazy embroidery!, 7. Set of 20 mini envelopes, 8. Janice chicken doorstop, 9. Set of 20 knitting stickers (set 4), 10. Lego gift tags - vehicles, 11. Wreck this Journal July 2011, 12. Bride and groom chickens, 13. Mending leggings, 14. A fun baby quilt, 15. Ruthie the Nana chicken pincushion/paperweight, 16. Kids in Space chicken doorstop, 17. Bright, fun Christmas stickers!, 18. Ziggy the paperweight/pincushion, 19. Eco friendly gift sacks, upcycled too, 20. Paper bunting

You can click on any of the links above to be taken to my Flickr where you will see further details of each item. You can also see a larger version of this mosaic in my Flickr photostream.

Just looking at this I am pleased to see that it is bright and colourful and that lots of the items I have made over the past year have been made from upcycled/thrifted materials :)

A bloggy review!

2011-12-30T11:06:00.000Z

It's getting to that time of year where we all tend to look back on what has happened in the past 12 months and of course I am no exception. Over the past 12 months I have had 35,605 page views which seems quite a lot to me! I've gone through my analytics and have found the most popular blog posts over the past year. Most weren't written this year but they have been popular over the past 12 months!

Not surprisingly the top spot goes to the post that describes how to make your own padded envelopes. It's not surprising as it has been shared on lots of blogs!

The second spot goes to my post about a local fabric shop. Maybe it's because you can get fabric there for £1 a metre?

The third spot goes to the easy peasy jam recipe using a microwave. Very, very easy!

This next post is from 2007 and isn't it amazing to look back at your progress over the years? It's for a brooch tutorial and I think it was the first ever tutorial I did. I was going to delete it (as it's a bit naff) but if it's the 4th popular post looked at over the past year then it can stay!

Another tutorial and this one uses old Christmas cards to make garlands ready for next year! A good bit of reuse I think!

This post was all about a fair in Clitheroe and showed off my new chicken packaging too!

The next post deals with the raffle I held with Jo on behalf of the Japanese people affected by the earthquake and resulting tsunami.

And the last post (I could go on and on but I'd better not) is all to do with fashion - or my version of fashion anyway! It seems that people agree with me about red and green not being seen together!

So what have I learnt from this? That people like tutorials certainly so hopefully there will be more of those in 2012 :)

Come back tomorrow for a little look at my favourite makes from 2011.

Santa jumper

2011-12-28T16:32:00.000Z

Or what I wore on Christmas Day :)

And a close up of Santa :)

Cool isn't it?

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T06:18:00.000Z

If you celebrate Christmas then have a wonderful time and here's hoping that Santa and loved ones bring you all the things you wish for.

Even Robin gift tags get in on the act!

Norad Santa

2011-12-24T06:11:00.000Z

I'm probably preaching to the converted here and you will probably all know about Norad Santa but just in case you don't then here's the deal!

You can track Santa as he flies around the world delivering presents and if you have kids their excitement grows as he gets closer and closer to where you live! It's great fun and well worth doing :)

Fly well Santa, fly well!

Bargain :)

2011-12-22T17:41:00.000Z

I spotted this fabulous 'Rainy Day' scarf in Oxfam today.

It is by Donna Wilson but I didn't know that when I spotted it across the shop - I was just drawn to the print and colours. I wandered over to have a look and peeked at the label. It said Donna Wilson and I was sure I knew the name but couldn't think why. I'd forgotten that I had been admiring her creatures for a while! Anyway for the princely sum of £4.99 it was mine. I had a look at her site when I got back and was slightly shocked to see that it retails at £45!! Bargain or what!?

Anya came with me and was very encouraging of my bargain find - she wowed in the right places when I told her how much it should have been. I think we have a future bargain hunter on our hands!

Glasses

2011-12-21T16:12:00.000Z

My glasses (wearing glasses not drinking glasses!) have become scratched and they are getting to the stage where they are quite tricky to see out of. First thing in the new year I will be heading for an eye test so that I can get some new lenses put in some of the frames I thrifted over the summer in America. So be expected to help me choose which frames sometime soon! Anyway if none of the frames are good then I can always get these ones - tapestry frames :)

Aren't they cool?

Random bits and bobs

2011-12-19T06:42:00.001Z

1. My blogging mojo seems to have disappeared at the moment and I'm not sure where it went! I don't really have anything relevant to share and because I have closed my shops for Christmas I can't bombard you with pretty pictures of things that you can buy from me :)

2. Pretty pictures - I have resisted the lure of Pinterest throughout the whole of this year and fingers crossed I can resist next year as I know it will suck up so much of my time! Here are some pretty pictures I have found elsewhere though.

From here

Isn't this cool? Maybe as a funky tattoo? :)

From here

This is just too pretty (even though I don't like snow!) Maybe now that we have a 4x4 rather than a crappy automatic I will like it a little more!

3. We are getting there with being organised for Christmas and we just have a few presents to wrap up. I haven't, however, written any cards yet. Better crack on with that really!

4. My house, however, is not ready for Christmas. It was beautifully tidy on Friday and then we had a party once school had broken up at 2pm. Lots of good food, very good company and well behaved kids but there are now toys everywhere!! 12 kids + toys = a big mess! I wouldn't hesitate to do it again though as it was such a fun afternoon/evening!

5. I have come to the conclusion that although I love a reasonably tidy house I am in fact, too lazy to tidy it myself. I need a cleaner/tidyer. Any volunteers?

6. I think that is enough random bits and bobs for one day. Byeeeeee!

Peppermint bark

2011-12-17T14:44:00.000Z

If you saw me prattling on Twitter yesterday you may have seen me mention Peppermint bark. I first saw it on Soule Mama a couple of years ago but resolved to make some this year.

And it tastes delicious! I made double the amount and there was enough for 6 gift bags full (4 have been given away to friends already) with a bit left over for us. And 24 hours after making it there is some left - amazing!

*for UK readers the heavy cream in the recipe is the same as double cream in the UK :) Oh and I would recommend keeping it it the fridge - the middle layer melted a bit when left on the side.

One goal reached :)

2011-12-14T20:01:00.000Z

I had said I would try and get 100 items in each of my shops by Christmas. I've just got there in my Etsy shop - whooop!

See, there is photo evidence! With a handy red circle to help you see :) I'm nowhere near in my Folksy shop (71 items) so I'm giving up hitting the target there. But hopefully with the 'list all your things from Flickr pledge' yesterday I may well get there in January!

A pledge for January :)

2011-12-13T16:17:00.000Z

I don't know about you but I never make New Years Resolutions as they are just too easy to break and then if you are anything like me the idea is given up all together! I will however make a pledge for January (and I know it's only January tends to be slower for me in sales in my shops and therefore less making is needed so I will be going through my Flickr and finding the items I have taken photographs of and not got round to listing yet and yep, you guessed it, listing them!

This chicken has been waiting to be listed since March 2010!

These fairy tale gift tags have been waiting since April 2010.

I also have things waiting to be listed from 2009 :( Better have my listing hat on come January!

Snowman Decoration

2011-12-12T10:03:00.000Z

Here's a little snowman decoration I whipped up last night :)

The photographs are terrible as the light is awful here but you get the general idea! His hat and scarf are made from a tank top that shrunk when I washed it!

His cute face - Tara chose the 'carrot' button for his nose.

He needed sparkly buttons and these fabulous Fimo ones (with beads embedded) were made by my friend Ruth.

The embroidery hoop snowman idea isn't mine - I saw it a few years ago over on Betz Whites blog but forgot about it and then I saw a variation on Eco Karen this weekend! He just needs a name - any ideas?

Sunday Snippets

2011-12-11T16:30:00.000Z

Some photo evidence of our day so far (it's only 2.30pm!)

Eco friendly gift wrapping :)

2011-12-09T14:10:00.000Z

As you know I like to try to be green and eco friendly over here at Chez Swirly and I was dreading the inevitable piles of wrapping paper that come along at this time of year. So I was very pleased when I remembered an idea I had seen on Soule Mama about making present wrapping from fabric. I've cheated and didn't make them from scratch but you may well want to do that (and I may well in the future!)

Ta da - fabric gift sacks/bags :)

This one is made from an Ikea pillowcase (folded in half lengthways) with some fabric additions - oh with buttons of course! This one holds lots of Mr Potato heads*

This used to be Matt's jumper (until I shrunk it - ahem!) I prettied it up with a chicken :) It's holding a rectangular box*.

This gift sack used to be a skirt that I made for the girls - it's not good enough to be handed down so I sewed the bottom up and voila - it's a gift bag! This one holds a paperback book and some playmobil*.

If you don't want to sew at all then do what I did with this last one and just use a pillowcase tied with some lace! This one holds a towel*

All the sacks have been tied with lace or ribbon but you could turn the sacks into drawstring bags or use velcro. Do let me know if you make anything like this - I'd love to see :)

*not actual presents just examples :)

My stall in Ilkley

2011-12-06T12:20:00.000Z

The overview of my stall. Everything in it's usual place but with my Swirly Specials basket off on the left. Oh and did you spy something on the wall?

That would be my new bunting! These are samples only but it is something I am going to explore more in the new year. They are paper bunting rather than fabric and it will help me to use up the quite extensive pile of damaged books I have waiting around to be used!

The top bunting is made from Peter and Jane books and has been stitched onto bias binding.

And the bottom one is regular pages with some paper buttons stuck on. This one was destined to be name bunting but my wooden letters have disappeared somewhere! It's certainly the beginning of an idea and fits the upcycled/recycled ethos of Swirlyarts which I like a lot!

I'm still here :)

2011-12-05T07:03:00.000Z

You may not have thought so by the lack of posts on my blog but I am still here! I had two fairs this past weekend and I had lots of stock to get ready for them. I really shouldn't have bothered with the second one as it was awful! But hey, looking forward now :)

For the next couple of days I will be chopping up nana linens to make chickens for Birdcage Vintage. They aren't going to the shop (yet) but are going to a fair in Otley next weekend on behalf of Birdcage. I will also be tidying my house like mad as it has been neglected for the past few weeks! I have a huge pile of clothes waiting to be put away and the house needs a deep clean.

Back tomorrow hopefully!

This weekend!

2011-12-03T05:27:00.000Z

Today I will be at the gorgeous Riddings Hall in Ilkley.

Come down as there will be lots of great handmade goods, carol singers (they were really good last year) great food by Trufood and even a tombola!

And you can come and see me on Sunday as I will be at the magnificent Townley Hall in Burnley which is only down the road from me :) It's part of a Magic of Christmas event that includes festive music, mulled wine, roasted chestnuts and there will even be a visit from Santa himself!

Big Hamish, Little Hamish, Cardboard box!

2011-11-28T10:56:00.000Z

Big Hamish - he's a doorstop.

Little Hamish - he's a paperweight/pincushion. And he's new to Swirlyarts!

And there is no cardboard box but my title refers to this iconic song by Bob the Builder!

Fabulous fabric

2011-11-27T20:10:00.000Z

I spotted a bolt of this fabric in a charity shop on a shopping day out with my mum. A huge bolt! And this was only the second charity shop we had gone into and it was 9.45am! I knew I didn't want to carry it around with us all day (my poor arms!) but I really wanted it. Alas the shop shut at 4.45pm and we weren't sure we could get back in time to collect it if I paid for it there and then.

Luckily we managed to get back in time and it was still sat on the shelf looking back at me longingly! So for quite a few English pounds it was mine :)

I carried back to the train (15 mins walk with other shopping) and lugged it round Leeds train station whilst waiting for my connecting train.

Today I decided to see just exactly how much there was on the bolt (it still had the original shop tags on it!) There are 22 metres of fabric on the bolt - yep really, 22 metres! I won't use it all by a long shot so there is some for sale in my Anya's Attic shop :)

Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale

2011-11-25T16:28:00.000Z

I'm having a big sale over in my Etsy shop - everything is 15% off with the code BLACKFRIDAY2011

Stock up on chicken doorstops and pincushions/paperweights as gifts, envelopes to send your cards out in and gift tags to adorn your beautifully wrapped gifts :) The code will end on Monday so fill your boots! I will be adding new stock over the weekend too so do check back.

My Creative Space - lots done so far!

2011-11-24T14:23:00.000Z

I've made lots of envelopes, packaged them up and even packaged up some extras that were waiting to be done.

I turned a badly fitting dress that rode up all the time (t-shirt type top bit and cotton flowery skirt) into a useable skirt :) The t-shirt bit when it had been chopped off only just came down underneath my boobs so you can see that it was never going to stay at a decent length! And as I don't wear leggings only tights, it was becoming a modesty issue! At least as a skirt it is the right length and should stay put where it is supposed to!

I am also planning on sewing up a hole in this turquoise skirt and covering it with this fabulous patch that I won as part of a giveaway from Millicent Crow.

Before I start sewing though I need to tidy my front room :) Go here for more Creative Spaces.

What I did this morning....

2011-11-23T16:15:00.000Z

Not the most imaginative post title but it is what it is!

I turned about 300 pages of old catalogues into lots of pretty paper flowers to use on cards.

However I still have about 100 pages to go.........

I also made some button cards :) I'm trying to get lots of things done from my to do list and this is the start of it.

What have you done today?

Sunday fun

2011-11-21T07:09:00.000Z

Hama bead fun - these are only a couple of the many the girls made

I made and listed some envelopes

I put my horns up! Tara did this when she was tiny and it's stuck as a family thing!

And we snuggled quite a bit

Not pictured - the accounts that Matt finished, the tasty roast pork he cooked or the many, many badges he made for me :) Also not pictured is the tidy studio - but you know what that looks like right?

Best customs form ever! And what came in the parcel :)

2011-11-20T08:38:00.000Z

The best ever customs form - fabric AND biscuits!!! :) A parcel arrived from the lovely Curly Pops the other day, all the way from sunny Australia. I got lots of lovely goodies - want to see?

The biscuits - a large sharing pack of Tim Tam's. We'll ignore the fact that it says share pack, ok, as they are all for me :)

Some sherbet - this I will share!

Some Go Granny fabric of my very own :) Apologies for the bad photograph but I wanted to keep it in it's plastic wrapping so little hands don't touch it!

Some cool badges :) I want to keep them all but I think the flower and yellow owl might be disappearing off to certain little people!

And some fabric panels - these might become the start of a quilt but they may also be turned into cushions. We will just have to see!

Thanks Cam - your parcel will be on it's way before Christmas :)

Last posting dates for Christmas :)

2011-11-19T06:55:00.001Z

I've been meaning to write this post for a while but just hadn't got round to it! These are the last posting dates for my Etsy and Folksy shops to ensure you get your goods for Christmas :)

International Airmail

Mon 5th December - South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia and New Zealand

Fri 9th December - Eastern Europe, USA and Canada

Mon 12th December - Western Europe

UK

Weds 14th December - Standard Parcels

Monday 19th December - First class

I know you can post after these dates (only by one day ) but I will be closing my shops over Christmas/not posting so these are the dates I recommend!

Christmas stickers

A day in the life - Thursday 17th November 2011

2011-11-18T15:10:00.000Z

This is what I did yesterday :) Laura chose the date for this Day In The Life but it doens't look like she has written hers yet.

6.27 - alarm goes off and I wake up so I can listen to the news on Radio 2 at 6.30.

6.35 - switch laptop on (it lives in the bedroom overnight after the break-in)

6.37 - check email and write today's Cuteable post (should have been last night but I was too tired)

6.37 - 7.05 - sort emails, shops etc online and then tell girls that it is breakfast time

7.10-7.40 - breakfast. I had porridge with honey today plus a cup of fruit tea and a yoghurt drink.

7.40-7.50 - sort girls lunches for school and find 60p for anti bullying wrist bands (selling them at school)

7.50 - 8.25 - get dressed, teeth, hair etc

8.25-8.35 - pin zips into the last two chickens (for a new stockist) ready to sew later while Matt wrapped presents for our new nephew!

8.40 - 9.20 - school run (we stood outside school and chatted for a bit with some friends)

9.25 - cup of tea and start writing this list!

This is the tea of choice at the moment!

9.27 - 9.50 - sew the two remaining chickens.

9.50 - finish drinking my cup of tea - it's still hot! Wonders will never cease!

9.50 - 10 - dash around gathering packing materials and boxes and envelops to get stuff packed up. Have to rush as Homes Under the Hammer starts at 10 :)

10 - 11.30 - packing the chickens up , parcelling them up along with presents for tiny nephew (eeeek!) and a bit of paperwork that goes along with a new stockist. Home Under The Hammer was watched too.

11.35 - 12.05 post office, and a trip to sarnie shop. Update this list.

12.05 - 12.50 - lunchtime. Eating sarnie and checking blog etc. I had a queen of clubs sarnie. Yum!

12.50 1.10- head down to give blood. App not til 1.15 but have to get taz out and it doesn't always start! Pop dryer on just before I dash out too.

1.10 - 1.55 - give blood, chat to nice people doing it, watch needle go in etc :) Have some nice juice but no biscuit and try not to laugh at lady who bitches and moans about everything!

My arm after giving blood. No bruise - yeah!

1.55 - 3.05 - Asda and Halfords - boring but necessary. Food and antifreeze for Taz's engine bought.

3.15 - arrive home just as Matt is going out to get girls. Ask him to go up by himself so I can put dishwasher on,shopping away etc. He's a super star so does :)

3.15 - 3.40 - do stuff above and take photo of arm. Also chop up some more of the Gudrun Sjoden catalogues.

3.40 - 4.05 - snack for girls, checking email etc. Update this list!

4.05 - 4.35 - randomly surfing the web including looking at clothes I can't afford :)

4.35 - Anya pulls my plaster off my arm where I gave blood. She is good :)

4.36 5.16- putting oven on, getting pizza ready, chopping up more bits of paper but with a specific purpose this time - see 6.15 - 6.45 below.

5.16 - 6.15 Tea time, chatting with girls and Matt, sorting dishwasher etc

6.15 - 6.45 check emails/reply, open a very nice parcel and cover my new stockists folder with pretty papers :) Who wants a boring folder anyway!

Front of folder

Back of folder

Spine

6.45 - 7.10 - Bedtime routines for girls

7.20 - ask Matt to help me carry some magazines in from car. Got them from a fellow crafter :)

7.25 - 9-30 - tear pages out of magazines ready to go in inspiration book.

9.30 realise that I'm not going to get through all the magazines tonight and take laptop to bed to write tomorrow's Cuteable post

9.30 - 10.09 Write cuteable post and sort through cuteable emails.

10.10 - laptop off and sleepyland time :)

Exciting, non? :)

More Decluttering

2011-11-16T10:57:00.000Z

The girls have been helping me with the decluttering this week and I must admit I have been encouraging them :) I'm also being cheeky and including their items in my total!

They got rid of 5 Barbies (counted as one item), a book, a Polly Pocket car, some sort of toy shelf and a pair of fancy dress shoes.

I've got rid of a rather groovy Royal tray, a book that I have managed to get two copies of, a water pistol (!), some wire coat hangers (counted as one), a toy car thing, a bag that only has one handle (a dodgy design feature!) and some slipper that have inserts in the bottom that can go into the microwave so you have heated slippers. A great idea and perfect if you are just going to be sitting still but they are fairly heavy to walk around in otherwise!

So 12 things this week plus the 59 from last week means a total of 71 items. I'm aiming to take part in the 2 mini challenges too but that will probably be a separate post next week. Happy de-cluttering if you are taking part too.

These are very me!

2011-11-15T14:23:00.001Z

These patches are very me :) I'm an eternal optimist and make my neighbour laugh at my optimism about the weather in the North West of England. If it's not raining I will hang the washing out even if there are big black clouds looming :) One is destined for my patch blanket (when I get round to making it!) and I'm not sure what the other one will be used for.

Patches from here.

P.S. All of the proceeds from the sale of the patches goes to the It Gets Better Project.

Weekend fun

2011-11-14T09:58:00.000Z

:: Cheeky Monkey Cake

:: Blowing out the candles

:: Present opening

:: A new favourite cuddly toy

:: More present opening

:: A pile of Gudrun Sjoden catalogues being turned into flower cards

:: Not pictured - Plasticine fun, good food, lots of cake, fab family time :)

Hope your weekend was fun too?

Etsy and Folksy sales

2011-11-12T06:10:00.001Z

As you may have seen I hit 200 sales in my Folksy shop on Sunday and yesterday I hit 300 sales in my Etsy shop :) :)

Yay for sales :) And which shop do you think will get to 201/301 first?

Wow - time flies!

2011-11-11T06:03:00.003Z

I can't believe that Anya is 8 today!! Where has the time gone?

Helping her baby sister exercise aged 3

After many years Bo is still her favourite teddy!

And now

Happy Birthday gorgeous girl - you are clever, beautiful, ambitious, book worm, avid crafter, the best big sister, funny and we are so proud that you are our big girl. Love you lots!

Hebden Bridge Rag Market and a really stupid question

2011-11-10T04:11:00.001Z

On Sunday Matt and Anya went to the farmers market and Tara and I stayed at home - until I saw a Facebook message about the WI Rag market in Hebden Bridge that was! It started at 11am and we got there at about 11.30. I will try to get to the next one for bang on 11 as it was heaving! Next time I would go without a child(ren) as poor Tara got pushed about quite a bit by mad women on the hunt for fabric! At one point she turned to me and said (in quite a loud voice) 'That lady in the purple skirt stood on my foot and didn't say sorry'. Nothing like an indignant 5 year old to get you stared at! To be fair the lady did apologise and told Tara that she was doing a good job holding *all* that fabric for Mummy - top parent, me! Anyway, enough waffle - lets see the fabric!

Some scraps but enough for a chicken or two - 50p each

5 patchwork panels - £5. I'm thinking that with some extra colour, these would look great as a blanket.

Some pretty linens - £2 for both. The top one is pretty badly damaged with holes in some of the lace bits.

A vintage Sanderson panel - isn't it gorgeous?? This was £6 which is a bit more than I would normally pay but when I pulled it out of the box (it was right at the bottom) a woman nearly grabbed it out of my hand to try and buy so I wouldn't let go! Think of the chickens that will be made from this!

And this part of a quilt - it was £1 :) And now my really stupid question is this (and don't laugh!) What the heck do I do with the bits of paper that are in the back of the quilt? I've never used hexagons in quilts before and I know that it is called paper piecing and I can see tacked stitches. I assume that if I pull the tacked stitches out that these pieces or paper would come out too? See - stupid question! But I would quite like to know please!

All in all I would go to the Rag Market again!

Clutter be gone!

2011-11-08T09:55:00.000Z

Although I haven't been posting about the decluttering challenge I have been doing it.

Here are some of the things that will be going to the charity shop. They are actually going today too as I have to get the car out to pick up a parcel and I thought I would combine two jobs!

-A pretty vase - very nice but it doesn't get used (and has never been used since we bought it 7 years ago so out it goes)
-3 books - I finished the Jodi Picoult book while we were in France and gave it to my sister in law but I got it back as she already has it! The other were read last week and I won't read them again. They were good but not good enough to keep.
-a plastic chest of drawers. The girls had this on the windowsill in the front room and it only had some whiteboard markers in so they have been re-homed into a cup with no handle and the windowsill is now clearer. The vase from the top also came from there.
-a pair of too wide shoes. Came from a friend and they are the right size for Tara but far too wide for her skinny feet. They are also much too wide for the friend we normally pass things onto so off to the charity shop they go.
-a tin of plastic knitting needles. I used to collect these to make knitting needle bracelets but they are fairly old and therefore brittle and don't like being boiled much! I had to replace lots of the bracelets I'd made due to the brittleness and I haven't made any for years so off they go....

Not pictured and also going to the charity shop is a big bag of fabric given to me by a friend of a friend that I won't use, 3 carrier bags of clothes from me and some from the girls and a selection of little bits and bobs that I sorted before the challenge began (so they aren't included in my tally!) I got rid of some girls clothes to a friend and some tops to two different friends. I also recycled loads of paper from the girls finished work drawer - I haven't got space to keep up with their output of work and two shoe boxes which were kept for a possible school thing but we aren't doing it any more so they have been squashed into the recycling too! The tally so far is 59 items (I haven't included recycling things as I would normally do that anyway!) I'm not going to relax now that I have reached my personal target which was 50 and I'm going to see of I can get rid of 100 items this month as my new personal target. In a house this cluttered it should be fairly easy!

P.S. I also completed the 2nd mini challenge of getting rid of some of the overlooked bits of your wardrobe. 6 pairs of baggy and holey knickers (what an image!) went out as well as two bras that were past their best.

Birdcage Vintage

2011-11-07T05:59:00.001Z

If you follow me on Twitter then you have probably seen me talking about an exciting new stockist I have called Birdcage Vintage. It's in Skipton up towards the Castle, is a few doors up from the Oxfam Bookshop and is next to a pottery cafe which is called Coffee and Clay (I think that's what it's called anyway!)

Voila!

It was the 'Grand Opening' of the shop on Saturday and we went along just after lunch. It was very busy inside and lots of people were stopping outside to have a look to see what it was all about.

My things (chicken pincushions, envelopes, gift tags and cards) are in or on this gorgeous cabinet.

Chickens in a basket!

My cards and envelopes. As I say it was the grand opening yesterday although the shop has actually been open for about two weeks. My cards and envelopes are doing so well that I was asked yesterday to make some more for them :) :) It was so busy inside that I couldn't get photographs of everything - I had to wait a while just to get these!

P.S. You should check out the Facebook Group for Birdcage Vintage as it's not just a vintage/crafty shop. It's also a community interest company backed by Behind Closed Doors Yorkshire which is a charity providing support to those whose lives have been affected by domestic abuse. So well worth a visit if you are in the area.

200 sales in my Folksy shop!!!!

2011-11-06T18:30:00.001Z

This fair chappie above was the 200th item to be sold in my Folksy shop about an hour ago :) To say I'm thrilled is an understatement! There has been actual dancing around the front room (don't worry the curtains are closed!) The lucky buyer of Hamish McPlaid will be getting extra gifts too.

Just as an aside I'm 3 sales away from 300 in my Etsy shop - you in case you wanted to know :)

And the winners are......

2011-11-04T12:33:00.000Z

The winner of Marie Claire Idees is.........

Number 17....... Therese

And the winner of the Swarovski Crystals is..........

Number 6 - LittlemouseLilly

Congratulations - I will be in touch soon :) And thanks to everyone for joining in!

Fabric hangers

2011-11-03T06:32:00.001Z

I know that I just posted yesterday about de-cluttering* but these were given to me by my mum at the weekend before the challenge started :)

I love fabric hangers and hope one day to replace all of my hangers to fabric covered ones - my clothes hang better and they are just pretty :) My mum grabbed these one from work for me - she works in a care home and they were throwing them out! The following hangers are my favourite.

Does anyone know how this last green one is made? Is it crochet or knitting or some sort of knotty magic? I have another like this already and would quite like to make some more but only if it's made by knotty magic - I can't do the crochet/knitting bit!

*but I will be giving the plastic hangers to the charity shop so that's ok right?

Declutter November

2011-11-02T08:44:00.000Z

You would have thought that with just finishing Blogtoberfest I wouldn't want to do any more challenges but oh no! I'm taking part in Declutter November which is being organised by Louisa at The Really Good Life. Basically the gist of it is to get rid of at least one thing everyday. Now I'm not going to be posting about it everyday but there will be (at least) one thing going into the charity shop pile/bin everyday.

And this is after it was tidied! (Study Jan 2009)

We do have an awful lot of stuff in our house and we are getting much better at getting rid of stuff but this month's challenge might be just the kick up the bum we need. I'm going to try and sort a small specific area each day e.g. two kitchen drawers, the toy box etc. This way I won't feel overwhelmed and it shouldn't then take over my life too much!

As well as the main challenge there will also be some mini challenges where you can get rid of 5 items from a specific area - the one at the moment is garden/outside space. I'll try and do some of them but won't guarantee it!

If you too want to join in then head over to the main blog post and leave a comment to sign up :) Lets give the charity shops lots of stock before Christmas!

New things :)

2011-11-01T06:09:00.001Z

I have LOADS of new things to post in my shops! The photo's are taken but it takes time to get things across in the shops. Here are two new things that made it in last night!

These mini music envelopes are in both my Etsy and Folksy shops.

And these cute Richard Scarry stickers are in the Folksy shop!

I'm making progress in getting both my shops up to 100 items before Christmas but the Etsy shop is well ahead with 91 and my Folksy shop is lagging behind with 61. I had to remove lots of my one off gift tags from Folksy as they no longer fit with what they deem handmade (!) so that is why there is a big discrepancy between the two. I'm determined to get at least one to them to 100 soon!

Phew - last day of Blogtoberfest

2011-10-31T09:32:00.000Z

I made it! 31 days of continuous posting! I didn't think I would when I realised that we would be away for half term in France but with some frantic blogging and timed posts I made it! So to celebrate I am hosting yet another giveaway :) This time it is for you jewellery makers/lovers of sparkle!

On offer is a mini drawstring bag of Swarovski crystals - there are about 50 in the bag ranging in size from tiny to quite substantial. Some are flat backed and some are the more traditional gem shape (you can tell I'm not a jeweller can't you!)

I will post anywhere in the world and the giveaway will end on 4th November at 12 midday. Just leave a comment and it doesn't even have to be in French this time!

P.S. Congrats to fellow Blogtoberfest bloggers - we made it!

First giveaway for Blogtoberfest

2011-10-30T06:05:00.002Z

Grab yourself a copy of Marie Claire Idees which is a French publication chock full of gorgeous items :) There are tons of pretty pictures and the need to read French isn't necessary. Want to see some pretty pictures?

To enter the giveaway (and I will post anywhere!) just say something in French to me :) Nice things would be appreciated!

Edited to add that this giveaway will close on Friday 4th November at 12 Midday :)

A girl and her (borrowed) frog

2011-10-29T06:00:00.003+01:00

In Year 1 and 2 at school they have a reward system that is basically traffic lights - green is good, amber is not so good and red is really not good. When you try really hard all week to 'Be Green' then you get rewarded with Fantastic Frog who gets to come home with you over the weekend. Tara won Fantastic Frog last week and because it is half term at the moment we have had him all week. He has been on lots of adventures (which I'm sure will be documented here over the next few days) but I think his favourite thing was snuggling up with Tara at night in the hotel in France :)

I think it was her favourite thing too!

Come back tomorrow as I am finishing off Blogtoberfest with two days of giveaways!

Getting ready for Winter

2011-10-28T06:11:00.001+01:00

The hats, gloves and scarves came out earlier this week and we dug out these snowsuits for the girls.

We bought them over the summer for the girls (cue much puffing and panting trying them on!) but they were half price so well worth buying!

We are now set for Winter - are you?

Creative Space - afternoon sunlight

2011-10-27T05:53:00.001+01:00

Got to get it where you can when Autumn is creeping towards winter :)

For more Creative Spaces check over here!

Reflection of me!

2011-10-26T06:00:00.001+01:00

A double image of me in the spoons from yesterdays post. Well it made me smile anyway and at least it's not a dodgy image of me naked like the ones you see from ebay. On that thought I will leave you for today :D

Cellar find

2011-10-25T06:29:00.001+01:00

You know how I've been sorting the cellar? Well we have two rooms in our cellar and I went rooting in the smaller one of the two the other day. It is damp and full of crap so I was surprised when I found this.

I vaguely remember buying this at a car boot fair for £5 when I was pregnant with Anya so it has been sitting down there for about 8 years.

It has some *ahem* attractive decoration! Don't worry - the mould came off with a good clean :) Want to see what is inside?

Pretty so far but look at this bit!

Pretty eh? It's a gorgeous picnic set and I just can't believe that I forgot about it!

Tea anyone?

New shoes :)

2011-10-24T06:09:00.001+01:00

You've got to love new shoes haven't you?

I might change the laces though as they look (and feel) a bit like floppy wool!

And the inside is very pretty and covered with tiny blue flowers!

Ilkley Fair :)

2011-10-23T06:35:00.001+01:00

I had such fun yesterday at the Ilkley fair. I saw lots of people I recognised and met lots of new faces too.

My stall was pretty much the same as it always is although I had my bargain box set up next to it where the airer full of quilts was due to go.

The bargain box was full of goodies at half price or less but it needs renaming to something like 'slight seconds and end of line items' Some thing like that anyway!

And the new packaging for the mini envelopes works well and I'm really glad I decided to make up the envelopes rather than having them flat like I used to.

New chickens!

2011-10-22T06:34:00.002+01:00

Here are some new chickens - they will be coming to Ilkley with me today but if you can't see them on my stall then they will be in my sewing basket waiting to have zips sewn on :) Feel free to ask for them and I can sew on a zip there and then for you :)

I haven't thought of names for them yet and they aren't in the shops yet either but will be soon. If you want one desperately then shout and I can list one specially for you!

Craft Fair in Ilkley!

2011-10-21T15:03:00.000+01:00

I will be at the lovely Riddings Hall in Ilkley tomorrow for an Arts Market Extravaganza!

Aren't these flyers gorgeous?

I have been busy making lots of gift tags, chicken doorstops, stickers, cards and mini envelopes and lots of one off designs! Do come and say hello if you pop by :)

My Creative Space - executive decision

2011-10-20T09:30:00.000+01:00

I have made an executive decision - I am my own boss after all!

These quilts were due to be coming to Ilkley with me on Saturday (more about that tomorrow) but they aren't finished. The bottom one has all of it's hand quilting done but needs binding and the top one has half of it's quilting done and no binding. I would have to sew like a mad thing to get them finished in time and I'm just not going to get them done. So they are now not going to be coming with me but will be finished over half term instead ready for two fairs I have coming up in December (hopefully along with another few!)

I've decided that my time would be more wisely spent making some owl gift tags (as I have run out completely!) and some more 'one off' or limited edition chicken doorstops. So I don't have a picture of what I'm going to be doing in my Creative Space this morning but I do have a picture of what I won't be doing. That still counts right??

On the Shelf

2011-10-19T05:55:00.000+01:00

I'm playing along with Punky and Me's meme called My Place and Yours. The theme this week is On the Shelf so here is my shelf!

This is my shelf to the left of my sewing machine in the studio - it's full of lots of stuff!

Here you can see Rolley Monkey, jars of buttons, postcards and Long 'Stretch' Johnson.

More buttons, Mad Catter and a Kokeshi doll that Tara made for me at school.

My radio which is essential to me when I'm working :) I listen to Radio 2 in the morning and Radio 6 in the afternoon. You can also see jars full of sew on patches (they are destined to be sewn onto a blanket one day) and some empty tins.

Yet more buttons (who says I have a button obsession??), some paper buttons that have been through the sticker machine and are waiting to be added to cards, some map badges and a gold coloured box full of paper waiting to be turned into stickers.

I hope you've enjoyed my shelf - play along if you fancy :)

Hahahahahahahahaha!

2011-10-18T14:13:00.000+01:00

This made me laugh when I came across it this morning and yes, I was eating a bar very similar to this when I found it!

Found on Enhabiten who found it here.

Flour bags

2011-10-17T06:33:00.001+01:00

I grabbed some unused flour bags from the scrap store last week to use as bags at my fairs.

As you can see they are rather large. And please ignore the cheeky model - she was used for scale! They will be used as bags for my quilts as the other bags I use aren't large enough. However, they are rather boring at the moment and I am hoping to jazz them up this week with some fabric offcuts and a whole lot of glue! I also have a fair on Saturday with two more quilts to make as well as other stock so I will be working super hard!

Relaxing Sunday

2011-10-16T14:56:00.000+01:00

Today we spent 4 hours at two car boot fairs this morning and got a few nice things - books for the girls, some stick on glow in the dark stars for Tara to stop her being afraid of the 'night crocodiles', an embroidered tablecloth to turn into Nana chickens, a present for my dad and a fold up pink mini scooter thing for Anya which cost us the princely sum of £1 - yep really!

This afternoon I was planning on doing a bit more work in the cellar but a) we did a lot yesterday and b) the Saturday papers were calling to me!

Hope you have a relaxing Sunday too!

Craft Soup Zine

2011-10-15T06:26:00.001+01:00

I belong to a group on Facebook called Craft Soup* which is chock full of lots of lovely crafty ladies and a couple of crafty men from Yorkshire. Although I live in Lancashire I luckily still qualify! We decided to make a zine to show off our collective talents and the zine is available now. If anyone would like to order a copy then let me know and I can get one for you. I will also be giving away some free with any purchase from my Etsy and Folksy shops! The first one has gone out with an order today and there are only 8 left now!

*If you live in Yorkshire/Lancashire, are on Facebook and would like an invite to the group then do let me know :)

Whoops!

2011-10-14T06:04:00.001+01:00

My wall seems to be falling down!

And it left a big pile of crap!

Don't worry though because a) it's in the cellar and b) I may have actually helped it along a bit with my trusty mallet and big chisel thing! When we bought the house we got a builder in to fix a leak in the roof and he actually did a good job of that. However we made the mistake of asking him 'if he did cellars' Big mistake!! He didn't and firstly cocked up the floor. The walls looked good for a bit but as it's a cellar and therefore damp, the walls started to look crap and the plaster fell off in big clumps. Next the skirting boards he insisted we needed, rotted. Not a good look and it now looks worse than it did when we got the house! So the skirting board is coming off and so is the plaster. The huge pile of stuff that is just sitting there getting damp is going into a skip and the room will be a lot more user friendly with all of the stuff hopefully off the floor.

Well that's the plan anyway!

And here is my team of building inspectors! I'm sure they are sucking through their teeth saying 'Ooooh, that'll cost you!'

Some half made chickens

2011-10-13T14:00:00.000+01:00

Well I promised you some photographs of half made chickens yesterday so here are some :) These will be heading to Birdcage Vintage in Skipton, North Yorkshire tomorrow along with some envelopes, gift tags and cards - all upcycled!

The chickens just need to be filled with rice and sewn up and they are ready to go. I meant to take a picture of them before they got their eyes sewn on but I got carried away while watching Homes Under The Hammer and forgot!

Check out some more Creative Spaces here - almost guaranteed not to have half sewn chickens :)

A quick round-up of things I like

2011-10-12T06:00:00.001+01:00

I'm getting to the stage now where blogging everyday is becoming a bit of a chore. Particularly this week when all I am doing is getting stock ready to take into a shop on Friday - it's not finished enough to show it off yet I don't want to bore you with yet another picture of half finished chickens or gift tags! So I decided (for the sake of you all and my sanity!) to browse some blogs and show off some of the things I like. Enjoy!

Pip from Meet Me At Mikes will be posting a how to for this fabulous Arcade blanket soon so if you crochet then head over there. However if you don't crochet but have a very talented little sister then you need to smile and wave. Hi Sarah! *waves* :D :D

I will certainly be trying out this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess for these fabulous floral suitcases! I'm thinking some Liberty fabric would work very well here. And it gives me a chance to use my rotary cutter!

Also from A Beautiful Mess is this rather fabulous idea for elbow patches. Makes me think of a geeky but very cool librarian (which is my other dream job!)

And how cool is this book headboard????? I want, I want, I want! I spotted it over at Recycle This who are having a book week this week. Head over if you fancy finding out some cool things to make using damaged books.

Be back tomorrow hopefully with some finished things to show off. If not, it's half made chickens for you :)

National Egg Week

2011-10-11T06:09:00.001+01:00

Did you know it's National Egg Week in the UK this week? Well neither did I until the lovely Nic at Nicknots made a themed treasury and I was included in it!

Can you see Eunice up there on the side? She fits in quite nicely!

Actually I must have known it was Egg Week as we had oven baked frittata last night for tea and tonight we will be having fried eggs on top of our Swedish Hash :)

So which one?

2011-10-10T06:25:00.000+01:00

The lovely people behind Dorothy and Theodore will be exhibiting at the Baby Show at Earls Court at the end of October and have asked some sellers to send in an example of their products for the stand. I have several chicken designs up on their site and have narrowed my selection to send, down to two. However, I need your help in deciding which one goes off to be admired by lots of people! Both are space themed but I can't decide which one - please help!

50's Astronaut

Kids In Space

I think I prefer Kids In Space but I'm not sure. Do let me know which one you prefer in the comments!

Simple fun

2011-10-09T06:25:00.001+01:00

The girls made this den after school on Thursday and it has been played with constantly ever since. It is a clothes airer covered with a quilt with a chair used at the end for extra room.

The girls filled it with cushions for a teddy bear tea party.

They 'camped out'

They raided the craft drawers for doorbells (these are tiny dummies to use on cards!)

And they did it all under this fabulous quilt :)

Simple is good sometimes.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

2011-10-08T06:28:00.001+01:00

In my shops at least :) I have added two new products to my range - some cute Christmas stickers and matching gift tags.

Aren't they cute? I found the papers when I knocked something off my overcrowded shelves and they fell off too! They are, of course, in my Folksy and Etsy shops. Actually, the tags are just in my Etsy shop as I'm not allowed to sell some of my gift tags on Folksy (due to the changes as to what they classify as handmade) and these ones don't fit the bill!

These hand drawn robin ones are allowed though and they fit the Christmas theme quite nicely so I thought I would show them off again :)

Are you crafting for Christmas yet?

Charity shop finds

2011-10-07T06:27:00.001+01:00

I went to the charity shop the other day and bought a few things :)

Some books for me and some for the girls. I'm not sure about the bottom one though. I read a review of it when it came out and it intrigued me although I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy it. I'm sure I'll let you know :)

A magazine to chop up that has already has been chopped :) Speedy me!

The staple of any charity shopping trip has to be doilies and Nana linens! It's not just me surely :)

Two cardigans - the bottom one is very snuggly and the top one is a very boring navy blue one. I do have plans for it though :)

But this is the score of the week - a fabulous book about keeping house that was published in 1950. It really is brilliant with lots of cool photographs and hints and tips. It will have it's own post soon :) But I will show you this one page - something for me to teach the girls!

Come on girls - time to get your housecraft on :)

Creative Space - postage stamps

2011-10-06T06:17:00.001+01:00

It's not as boring as it sounds - honest!

These postage stamps are having a bath to separate them from their paper backs - the newer UK stamps are a sod to get off though so I wouldn't bother trying!

Drying stamps - notice how they are all round the edges of the trays and not in the middle. This is because they will stick to the middle when wet (as the glue is still sticky!) and I know this from experience! Once they are dried slightly you can pop them in the middle to continue drying.

Not asleep yet? Good! I will be using these today to make postage stamp Christmas cards which you can see here.

More Creative Spaces here.

New chickens

2011-10-05T07:06:00.000+01:00

The new chickens I have been talking about for a few days on Twitter are finally up on Dorothy and Theodore. They are all exclusive to Dorothy and Theodore so you won't be able to buy them anywhere else and I think they are fabulous fabrics. You've seen some of them already but here are the new ones. I particularly like the space themed ones!

Blue Chicken

Blue Marble

Red Marble

Blue pinwheel

Red Pinwheel

Lime Green Hippo

50's Astronaut

Kids In Space

Yee Haw Cowboy

What do you think?

Library books

2011-10-04T05:41:00.000+01:00

I haven't been to the library for years but I went yesterday to check out a 10p book sale (more on that another day*) When I went to check some books out it became apparent that I hadn't actually been for 3 years and that I had a fine waiting for me for a Miffy book and a fairy book - £12 worth of fine actually!! Once I had paid my fine the nice man let me have some books out :)

I've been wanting to look at the 1,000 ideas for Creative Re-use for a long time and the quick flick through I had looks good. I LOVE Angie Lewins works so I'm eager to dip into this one too. And the Recycled Home appealed to me for obvious reasons :) If I get lots of work done today then I will allow myself to sit on the sofa surrounded by these books later tonight - but only if I get the work done!

*Hey I have to blog everyday for a whole month - I'm spreading these babies out :)

We like books

2011-10-03T06:31:00.001+01:00

Cute eh?

Blogtoberfest

2011-10-02T05:50:00.000+01:00

It's time for Blogtoberfest where I am pledging to post one post a day for the whole month of October. I've done it before so I'm sure I can do it again :)

The master list is being held over at Tinniegirl so if you want to join in the feel free to pop over and see what it is all about. There are lots of fabulous people taking part and you can start at any point during October so jump on board!

A new idea!

2011-10-01T06:29:00.001+01:00

I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that a new idea had popped into my head. Want to see?

Postage stamp Christmas tree cards!

What do you think? I'm trying to expand my range but keep everything upcycled/recycled. This one has a couple of wonky stamps - I was in a rush to make it as I was excited about it turning out exactly as I had it in my head! I'm also going to experiment with different shapes and colours of trees. Let me know what you think!

My Creative Space - fabric!

2011-09-29T14:10:00.000+01:00

I am taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather we are having in the UK at the moment to take my Creative Space outside. I am cutting enough fabric for 130 chickens and it is taking it's toll on my arm!! At least I can enjoy the bird song and sunshine while I'm at it :)

For more Creative Spaces check over here. And as I cut out lots of straight lines do you think I would be better off using a rotary cutter? And if so, which brand would you recommend?

New hair

2011-09-28T07:07:00.000+01:00

Anya had her hair cut the other night by our good friend T. She had wanted it cut to her shoulders since before we went to America but I asked her to wait until we got back. She still wanted it cut short so I let her.

She has at least half of her hair cut off and loves it - she keeps swishing it round and going to look in the mirror :)

New sewing machine

2011-09-27T06:50:00.000+01:00

Well, like most things in this house, it should be 'new to me' :)

Matt's Great Aunt no longer used this machine, knew I liked sewing so sent it up from Devon for me!

She is a fairly basic model but does what I need her to. It took me a while to figure her out as the threading is completely different to Janine (the Janome).

Janine will be heading to the sewing machine spa for a few days to get her in tip top condition but Conseula here (for that is her name) will take up the slack quite nicely.

I'm thinking that she would quite like a mini makeover but we will see how I go with getting on top of work before I start messing around with prettifying Conseula :)

What I will be working on today

2011-09-26T05:50:00.000+01:00

I will be turning as much of this pile of fabrics as possible into gorgeous (and exclusive) chickens for Dorothy and Theodore.

Don't forget that you can get 10% off any item at Dorothy and Theodore up until the 30th of September by using the code 'launch' at the checkout :)

Chicken photoshoot

2011-09-25T06:37:00.002+01:00

The chickens awaiting their photoshoot :)

Charity shop finds

2011-09-23T07:05:00.000+01:00

I went to Skipton yesterday to see a potential stockist (she is interested! Wheeeee!) and I had a little time left over to visit the charity shops. Before going I had mentioned to the charity shop gods (they exist people!) that I would quite like some nice things to bring home to my family and they obliged me :) Want to see what I got?

Two books about Walter the Farting Dog for £1.99 and £2.49. The girls will love these :)

A trio of playmobil figures for 70p!

This book intrigued me and has a whole chapter about buttons which is why I bought it for £2.

A magazine to chop up for 30p. The chopped out images go into my inspiration/ideas book.

I also got this fabulous skirt - it's a thick jersey type material but doesn't cling, if that makes sense? The stripes go the 'wrong' way but to be honest if you are a UK size 16 then you are going to look like a UK size 16 no matter what you wear! And the best bit?? It's reversible!

It's blue striped on the other side with a pink stripe at the bottom and at the top :) It's from Seasalt originally where skirts start at £39.95 so I'm thinking that the £3 I paid was a good deal!

I also got some things for the girls for Christmas but don't want to show them here as the girls sometimes look at my blog :)

My Creative Space - daydreaming

2011-09-22T07:15:00.000+01:00

I won't actually be in my Creative Space today due to picking up a new car this morning, visiting a potential stockist this afternoon and attending a zine meeting this evening - busy day! So whilst driving to all these places I will be daydreaming (whilst paying close attention to the road of course!) about my front garden.

This is my front garden - there isn't much space as we live in a traditional Victorian house but I am determined to try and grow some things in there to eat. Eventually I would like a raised bed against the little wall on the left but that will be a long term goal. First I have to figure out what I want to plant, what we will eat and what will grow in our clay soil. Tomatoes don't grow well here and we have the worlds largest slug population in Burnley I think!

There are quite a few established plants that I don't really want to get rid of but we will see how that goes.

I have quite a bit of wasted space where pots could go so I will be researching what will grow well in pots. It's good to daydream!

For more Creative Spaces go here.

Nodding animals

2011-09-21T05:49:00.001+01:00

My sister recently got rid of her car and gave me her nodding Scottie dog and nodding Kiwi :) To say I was thrilled was an understatement - Matt not so much! They decided to hide in Taz the campervan.

Here they are looking out through the front window (it was a rainy day!) They seem happy in their new home and have been pictured playing in the lei. I'm sure it's the law that every VW campervan must have a flower lei :)