Hats Outrageous!

Folksy Friday!!

Last week I was slack, I didn't have a Folksy Friday.  I had a good reason though - the following day I had the my boys' primary school Summer Fair, and I had some last minute stressing to do...so anyway, I had thought I'd do a double one today to make up for it, but unfortunately, my No. 2 Son had an accident at school yesterday - he's cut open his chin - so he's home needing attention, and we're going to the Doc's later on this afternoon.  No. 3 Son needs his "going to big school" immunisation, so we're kiling two birds with one stone, as it were.  No. 1 Son managed to get over his fears of catching the bus to school by himself; I took him up to the bus stop, saw him on the bus, but it was already full of kids from his school anyway, so it really wasn't a problem beyond one of his own making.  He'll be perfectly fine from now on!  I've been haivng him go down to the corner shops for milk and bread and whatever, so he's now used to making little trips by himself - this is just one more step in the right direction!  A Mummy friend from school is bringing him home, so that's all sorted as well.  Phew!

Anyway, in honour of the sticking plasters which now grace the face of my No. 2 Son, I've decided my Folksy Friday shall be about just that - plaster!  Drum roll please!

1.  Lettercarved plaster Feather, by Jo Sweeting

 

2.  Flying Ducks, by crazylovethis

   

3.  Fairy Door, by funkycinderella

 

I'm afraid that's your lot for today.  And that I'm also going to be closing down this blog after today, because I"m finding it's not quite so user-friendly as I'd hoped - I'm going over to the dark side, that is, blogger...anyway, my new blog, should you choose to follow me there, will be at this address.  There's nothing there at the moment, but I'm going to have my next Folksy Friday feature from there, with maybe some little surprises, who knows!  Until then,  byeee!!!

A Very Late Folksy Friday...

Cars - can't live with them, can't live without them.  I was driving to school this morning and our car, not the most reliable at the moment - although it's a Volvo it *is* nearly 20 years old - whose brakes have been misbehaving a lot lately, decided to completely lock up on a busy road.  Fortunatelty (thanks God!) managed to edge my way around the corner to where the kids have Scouts (etc) and parked outside the Scout Hall.  I turned off the car, and started it again, leaving it running for a little while.  We then made our way to school (still in the car) very gingerly, dropped the kids off, and the youngest and I came home...where we left the car and did the rest of our travelling for the day...by bus!  Husband has some time off next week, so he's been advised that some of it shall be spent finding a decent mechanic (ie. not the one he normally goes to...another story in itself...).

Anyway, because of this, I have decided my Folksy Friday for today shall be on the theme of CARS!  Enjoy!

1.  Love Cars - Hand-Drawn Card by fosscards

   

2. Baby Bandana Dribble Bib - Cars - by Bebe Boutique

   

3.  Silver Cuffliniks Featuring Vintage Die Cast Micro Machine Cars - by O'blue

 

Only three today - I have to pay attention to my kids!

Have a good one!

Welcome to another...Folksy Friday!

Hello everyone!  That guaranteed time of the week when I actually get my act together and post something on my blog...yes, that's right, it's Friday, and time for another Folksy Friday!

I've had a bit of a listing frenzy this morning.  I think it's because I've sold two things in the past couple of days - yes, you read right, two things!  First off, on the 2nd of June, I sold these gorgeous Eau de Cologne Coasters:

 

Not one to miss a trick, I immediately listed some more:

 

I was on a bit of a roll, so I decided to list some Eau de Cologne badges as well:

 

Then, last night, I sold a pencil roll!

 

So...I thought I'd list another one!

 

I did mention that I was on a roll earlier, didn't I?

I've also listed some more crayon rolls.  First this one:

 

And then this one:

   

And now for my last listing for today, and the motivation behind my Folksy Friday theme this week, because I think it's so pretty, a very girly crayon roll, in a very girly Laura Ashley print:

 

So yes, my theme today is Laura Ashley.  I remember back in the late 80s I had the most beautiful Laura Ashley print dress, big puffy sleeves, reached to nearly the floor.  I loved that dress - it was one of the first things I bought for myself when I started working - I'd finally made it!  Unfortunately I can't say the same for that dress!

So, without any further ado, here we go!

1.  Heart made from Laura Ashley Vintage material, by Angel Bells

 

2.  Laura Ashley~ Mini Lavender Cushions~Gingham~Pink, by Gingham Designs

   

3.  Vintage Laura Ashley fabric cushion, by Cwtch

 

4.  Laura Ashley Duckegg Bird Fabric Coin Purse, by pipdesigns

   

5.  Cushion - Laura Ashley Toscana Teal and Oatmeal Material, by Tricia Newman

 

So there you go!  Don't forget, if you'd like to buy any of these (even mine!) all you have to do is click on the links, and you'll be taken directly to the item.

Have a lovely, very Folksy, Friday, and a beautiful weekend!

Folksy Friday!

Swifts!  I love them!  I've just been out in the back garden watching and listening to them - "flee flee!" as they dash about after flying insects...the loveliest birds ever!

Consequently, I've decided my Folksy Friday Feature today will be all about swifts...can't say there's that many, but I'll put in as many as I can find:

1.  Swift in Flight by Wood Jewellery

 

2.  Flights of Fancy Earrings, by Maisielu

 

Okay...run out of swifts...sniff!  Swallows are my second favourite though...

3.  Swallow and Pearl, by MishaMakes

   

4.  Swallow Card, by Merge Artwork

   

5.  Swallow Brooch, by Lost at Sea

 

Okay - so only 5, and not strictly swifts...but swifts and swallows...I'm going to upload this and then go outside - the sun and the swifts are calling me!  Have a gorgeous day!

Busy busy busy!

It's the wind-down to the summer holidays - I should say it's me that's winding down, while everything else seems to be winding up!  At school it appears they're now trying to fit in all the things they've had all year to do, concerts, plays, school trips, whatever...and it's all happening right now.  The weather is topsy turvy, but whatever the weather, I have to keep on working, school work, craft work, house work...it's non stop!  This week I've attended my daughter's summer concert at her school.  I went to the Christmas concert, and was a little non-plussed.  Not sure why - I think it might have been because we travelled there by train and it finished very late, which meant we were on the station platform freezing whilst waiting for the train...the concert itself wasn't so bad, but my memory has been coloured by that cold, cold night! This time around, I still travelled by train, but my daughter stayed at school and organised her own dinner and so on - what a difference six months makes!  Back in November she wouldn't have dared do that, the result being we had to rush around in a mad panic because she arrived home half an hour before we had to catch the train - now she's Little Miss Independent, and I was able to take my time!  The concert finished almost as late as the November one, but the main difference was most certainly the weather, we walked to the station in the dusk - at 10pm - and although there was a chill in the air on the platform, it wasn't nearly so bad.   Anyway, this concert was great - my daughter played piano as part of the Lower School Symphony Orchestra, and sang as part of the Vocal Ensemble.  It's really lovely that she's so involved in school life; I really wish the opportunities were there for me to be as involved, but this is secondary school, the focus is on the children (young adults!) rather than the parents, and in a lot of ways that's much better...I guess!

My daughter also had her Confirmation on Sunday!  I'm so proud of her - she made the decision herself to have it, and although she was very nervous, it was lovely to see her stand up and profess her faith in Christ in front of everyone.  Poor thing was in tears because she was completely overwhelmed by it all, but she had her first Communion and that made it all worthwhile.  She's told all her friends at school that she's now considered an adult...a few of them are looking at her in a different way...and it's certainly had an affect on her attitude!  I wonder if this is part of the reason why she was happy to stay back at school on Wednesday?  She's having an outing to the cinema with her friends on Monday, which is a big step for me as much as for her, because it involves her taking two buses to get to the shopping centre where they're seeing the film.  She's under strict instructions to keep her phone turned on when she's not in the cinema...eep!  On the other hand, she's 13 and a half, I should be happy she's growing up and wanting to do things with her friends...and I'm sure I was doing the same sort of things when I was in Year 8...

I've been busily crafting and listing every day on Folksy - I can't believe it's been nearly a month and I've managed it every day - and once again, I'm *so* sorry I've not managed to do the same for you all here, and blog every day...how about I see what I can do for June?  Anyway, my daily listing is starting to see dividends:  I've been featured in quite a few blogs, and I've had *two* custom orders for my map coasters.  I haven't shown you my map coasters yet, have I!  Okay, well, here goes, let's have my Folksy Listings from where I left off...starting with the 17th of May:

1.  Map Coasters

   

2.  Felt Flower Brooch

   

3.  Felt Flower Brooch

   

4.  Map Coasters

   

5.  Denim and Patchwork Shabby Chic Coasters

   

6.  Large Barrette with Felt Flowers

   

7.  Crayon Roll

   

8.  Crayon Roll

   

9.  Felt Flower Brooch

   

10.  Felt Flower Brooch

   

11.  Felt Flower Barrette

 

Now, all of these are for sale, and are listed in my Folksy Shop!  I ship everywhere, and take payment by PayPal.  Don't forget, all proceeds from every sale go towards sending my daughter to the Jamboree next year!

Folksy Friday!

Hurrah!  It's Folksy Friday!  My theme for today is the 80s, in honour of my favourite television show in a long time, "Ashes to Ashes", which has its final ever episode tonight.

Only 5 again...because I've got a lot of work to do today!

1.  80s Cocktail Necklace, by The Vintage Jewellery Box

 

2.  Retro 80s Style Bracelet, by mellejohn.co.uk

 

3.  One Shouldered Wonder Black Velvet Dress, by Miss Cherrys Boutique

 

4.  No Moonwalking Tote, by Retro Without a Cause

 

And last, but not least:

5.  Neon Pink Bow, by Lupin Handmade

 

So there's your lot!  Have a lovely day!

PS!

Not long after I blogged this morning, I found out that my matching brooch and barrettes set had featured on Cuteable!  This is serious kudos!  I've been reading Cuteable for ages, and it has a massive readership.  So, thanks Lynsey, for considering me!

 

Fame (but no fortune yet...)

Hello!  Exciting things happening in our house!  For my Mad Mayhemmers listing yesterday on Folksy I posted these coasters:

  

 

When I list an item, I go through a process of also listing them on my personal Facebook Page, my Lemonade and Lamingtons Facebook Page, my Hats Outrageous Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and then finally, on Craft Juice, which is a platform for presenting your art and craft items (oh, and occasionally I blog about it here...).  Anyway, it's from this last one, Craft Juice, that I've had my lastest promotion.  Rosemary at Glitz and Glamour Jewellery featured my coasters, in fact, was inspired by my coasters, in her blog for Craft Juice Tuesday.  So there you go!  I think I'm up to 5 blog features now (not including this one...).

Anyway, as a consequence of this, I'm thinking I might do a Craft Juice Tuesday post once a week, as well as my Folksy Friday one?  What do you think?  And what do you think of my coasters??

My May So Far...

Today is the 16th of May, and while I can't believe we're this far into the year already, I thought that I might as well, seeing as how we're this far into the month, give a summary as to what I've been up to.  So sit back and enjoy the ride (ummm...)!

Over on Folksy I've been participating in a May Listing Challenge, aka the Mad Mayhemmers.  Every day I've been loyally listing an item I've made to my Folksy shops, and, although I've not sold anything yet, it means that my stock has increased dramatically, my crafting skills have improved dramatically, and I've had a go at different things to what I would do normally - I'm challenged every day to do something, so I have to think on my feet.  Here's a brief summary of what I've listed so far...in pictures:

1.  Flower Hair Clip, Crocheted from T-Shirt Yarn

   

2.  Felt Flower Brooch

 

3.  Shopping Bag, Crocheted from T-Shirt Yarn   

4.  Shopping Bag, Crocheted from T-Shirt Yarn

   

5.  Felt Flower Brooch

 

6.  Shopping Bag, Crocheted from T-Shirt Yarn

   

7.  Silk Purse

   

8.  Map Badges

 

9.  Shopping Bag, Crocheted from T-Shirt Yarn

 

10.  Linen Shoulder Bag

   

11.  Spring-Weight Hat Crocheted from T-Shirt Yarn

   

We'll take a little break at this point, under the watchful gaze of my daughter's eyes...

I started a second shop on Folksy (well a third, I have a neglected "destash" shop) called Lemonade and Lamingtons, and from this point I decided that my submissions for Mad Mayhemmers would be from this shop.  It was a bit of an epiphany - a summery sounding shop name for summery stuff; a wintery sounding name for wintery stuff (duh).  In the meantime, I sorted myself out in business terms, I ordered some name tapes for Hats Outrageous!, which (because I only received them yesterday) I shall sew on all my stuff from that shop (and any consequent wintery stuff I sell).  I started Twittering heavily, and I was featured in no fewer than 4 blogs, not including my own.  Most excellent!  Also, about the same time as the crochet hat was featured, I received an eBay purchase of a photo light box, complete with studio lamps.  That improved my photography no end!  The acquisition of some lovely craft items meant I wasn't solely reliant on charity shop finds/stuff from around the house.  I bought some brooch pins, which improved the quality of my brooches somewhat.  Okay, on with the show...

12.  Felt Flower Brooch

   

12a.  (bonus listing)  Felt Flower Brooch

   

13.  Felt Flower Brooch

 

14.  Brooch with Three Tiny Flowers

   

15.  Matching Felt Flower Brooch and Barrette Set

 

And finally, today's listing...

16.  Two Felt Flower Barrettes With Matching Brooch

 

Phew!  I don't know about you, but that was exhausting!

In other, non-crafty news, I broke my sewing machine yesterday - sob sob - making some denim and patchwork coasters - I'm halfway through the third one out of four, and they're going be a gorgeous set!  I have enough denim and some contrasting patchwork to be able to make a second set of 4, so watch this space.  I've ordered a new sewing machine, one which is more suited to heavy duty sewing, with the added bonus of being computerised as well, so it's not going to be quite so much of a brain drain on me when I just want to get it done!  My studio has a mile high pile of work in progress...hmmm...I'm sure I said this was non-craft related news...

Oh - and my youngest son turned 4 at the beginning of May, which is impossible, so it really mustn't have happened...hmmm...I also worked at preschool one day, which was lovely, and given that week I didn't get to work for my "little old man" meant I still have some play money of my own.  I worked for him twice this week though, so that was nice...lots of play money!!

Anyway, my fingers are about to drop off, so I might update you further another day!  Keep an eye out for my Folksy Friday Feature - any ideas for a theme for this week will be most welcome!

 

Hello Again...It's Folksy Friday!

Yes, I know, I should be hanging my head in shame...I promised I would blog every day, but I haven't, but then again, I've been sick (excuses!) and I *have* been listing on Folksy every day.  I promise I'll give you an update...tomorrow?

Yes, I know, I should be hanging my head in shame...I promised I would blog every day, but I haven't, but then again, I've been sick (excuses!) and I *have* been listing on Folksy every day.  I promise I'll give you an update...tomorrow?

Ooh, I do have a little bit of news I can share with you right now - I've opened a second shop at Folksy (well, strictly my third shop, I do have Lisa de Stash for my excess buttons etc - as if there is such a thing! - but that's something else I'm going to have to give some attention to...maybe I can do that one on Monday...anyway) - called Lemonade and Lamingtons!  I'm hoping to diversify a bit with my shops; Hats Outrageous will be more of a seasonal shop, seeing most business in the cooler months, whereas Lemonade and Lamingtons will be for the bright sparkly things that I'm feeling like listing at the moment.  So anyway, check them out - I post all over the world, and of course, as always, all proceeds from any sale go directly to the fund to send my daughter to Sweden next year for the Jamboree.

And so, to Folksy Friday!  As I've been listing a lot of felt flower brooches of late, and today listed a brooch with very tiny flowers, I thought the things I would list should have tiny in their title.  So here goes.  Only five today, because I'm sick (sniff!  cough!!):

1.  Tiny Mole by Quernus Crafts

 

2.  Tiny Pig by Moss Mountain

 

3.  Tiny Field Mouse by Milie Rose Creations

 

4.  Tiny Ted by CuteCrafts

 

5.  Edwin, Tiny Needle Felted Bear, by Kitty D'Amour

 

Okay, so there's your lot for today!  Enjoy, and don't forget, all these are available for purchase from the seller's shops.

Badges!

I received a badge maker in the post yesterday, and thankfully I'd ordered a refill pack at the same time, as I used up the 10 badges supplied pretty quick smart!  Anyway, I've been buying old OS maps from my favourite charity shop with no real idea behind their purchase; I simply thought they were too lovely to leave behind...I gave one to my youngest son, who has decided it makes quite a good surface to drive toy cars on - there's roads marked on it, after all!

Anyway, when my badge maker arrived, I was hit by inspiration.  My maps!  I had this fabulous one of South Britain - and that fairly meant everywhere below the midlands.  I worked out how to use the badge maker quite quickly, and set to work.  Here's the result:

 




I'm quite chuffed about how well the turned out!

As usual, they're listed for sale on Folksy - here and here - they're in two separate lots, because I have 10, and I'm only able to list 5 in a batch.  Postage is available to all parts of the world, and of course, all proceeds go to sending my daughter to the Jamboree next year!

Folksy Friday!

Because I have listed a silk purse in my Folksy May Listing Challenge today, I have decided to find some other silk purses for today's Folksy Friday treasury!

Anyway - here's mine:

   

http://www.folksy.com/items/489977

Now...onto the Treasury!

1. 

Bridal Silk Purse, by GlassPearl

 
 

2.  Cerise 'Silk Branches' Purse, by Silk Tree Purses

     
3.  Purse, mauve silk hand, printed, by Sabine Cornic

   

4.  Silk Handbag, by Bread & Butterworth

   

5.  MAGENTA & CREAM SILK CLUTCH BAG by From Rags to Bags

 

Only five today folks - I'm not feeling very well!  Cough cough splutter splutter!!

Goodness me!

6 May already!  And I've not blogged for 3 days...how slack of me!  I've been a little busy (I know - any excuse!)...No. 4 turned 4 on the 4th - which must be a super champagne birthday, given he's the fourth child, born on the 4th and he turned 4!  The kids had the day off school on Monday because of the May Day Bank Holiday, and so that meant the 4th (Tuesday) was a bit hectic, because I'd re-assumed total holiday mode...then yesterday I was hoping to do some grocery shopping, but I got a phone call from No. 4's preschool asking if I'd like to do some cover work for them - for pay - now, how could I refuse that?  It was lots of fun, but I was completely exhausted by the end of it - kudos to the lovely ladies who do that every day!

Today I have 1/2 the children home from school because it's Polling Day (remember - Vote Early, Vote Often!) - No. 1 has to go to school because Secondary Schools aren't polling places, and No. 4 has to go to preschool, because preschools aren't polling places either!  But regardless (and even though I could sleep in because I don't have to be anywhere before 9.30...) I'm still up and about and doing my thang...I thought I'd catch up with my blog - don't you feel honoured?

I thought today, rather than filling up my blog entry with thousands of pics, and making it very unfriendly, download-wise, I'd post links to my Folksy May Listing Challenge entries, and you can go have a look for yourselves at what I've submitted.  Don't forget too, tomorrow is Folksy Friday, so I'll have loads of nice things for you to look at then...

So...here goes!

Tuesday 4th May

Wednesday 5th May

Thursday 6th May

So there you go!

If you're reading this in the UK, don't forget to vote - and as they say in Australia, "Vote early, vote often!"

Day 3...

...and I'm still at it!

Here's what I listed today in the Folksy May Listing Challenge!

 




It's an upcycled t-shirt yarn shopping bag!  What do you think?  Very eco-friendly...it's for sale here.  As always, proceeds from any sale go towards the fund to send my daughter to the 22nd World Scouting Jamboree, next year in Sweden.  Oh, and I ship everywhere now - I had my first international sale last week - I sold a bag to a lovely lady in The Netherlands!  How cosmopolitan!

May Listing Challenge - Day 2

So far, so good!  Day two (...in the Big Brother House...ummm...) in the Folksy May Listing Challenge and I have another item to list!  I have a felt flower brooch:

   

 If you would like to see what else people are offering as their contributions to the May Listing Challenge, have a look here!

Meanwhile, have a lovely day, it's raining here on the Sunday part of a long weekend, which is fairly typical!  Still, it won't stop us having some fun!

May Listing Challenge - Day 1

You may have heard me mention (well, read me mention) Folksy before.  Anyway, I'm taking part in their "May Listing Challenge", which basically means I have to make and list stuff at least once every day in May!  Goodness me, what on earth have I got myself in for?

Anyway, here's my first listing:

Tangerine Crocheted Flower Hair Clip 

 

What do you think?  It's made from upcycled t-shirt yarn, with a vintage button in the centre, which came from my Nanna's button jar (I kept a lot of her buttons when she died).  She bought it from the Australian version of Woolworths in either the 1960s or 1970s, and it was still in the packet!  Amazing...Anyway, the flower's mounted on your standard sort of hair clip:

 

I quite like it, but then again, I would, wouldn't I!

Felty Folksy Friday!

I'm so sorry, Hats Outrageous fans, that I've not blogged since last Friday - I promise I'll try a bit harder this coming week to do more than one blog-posting!  Anyway, if I can keep it up (week 2 and counting) you'll have at least one contribution from me a week, and that will be my Folksy Friday Feature.  I promise I'll try and give you some more personal updates as well though.  Well, I'll try!

This week's Folksy Friday is all about felt.  Specifically felt brooches.  I like felt brooches.  I make felt brooches.  I've sold quite a few felt brooches in my time.  It's a subject I believe I know a bit about - I can tell a lovely felt brooch when I see one!  So - I've selected 10 different felt brooches from 10 different shops on Folksy all of which have in common the fact that they are gorgeous and that the sellers have, for some unknown reason, not too many sales under their belts.  This of course, is completely unjustified, as I am sure you will agree, once you see how fabulous their brooches are!

Okay - here we go:

1.  Felt Brooch, by Landbaby

 
    

2.  Felt Brooch, by Holly Dog Designs

 

3.  Felt Corsage, by elgee finK and ash

   

4.  Felt Brooch, by Dog Daisy

   

5.  Felt Brooch, by Oscar Cat Designs

 

6.  Felt Cupcake Brooch, by The Cookie Button

   

7.  Marmalade Felt Brooch, by Fatcat Felt

   

8.  Pink Felt Flower, by JessieStacey

   

9.  Felt Button Badge, by Threadspider

 

And, last but not least:

10.  Ahoy Sailor Corsage, by Lillymakes

 

So there you go!  That's your lot for this week...

Folksy Friday!

Forum members at Folksy have a group called "Folksy Friday", where they pick a theme and find examples related to that theme among the many gorgeous items listed for sale within the depths of Folksy.  I've decided I'm going to take part, so every Friday (hopefully) from today onwards, I shall be listing 10 lovely things I've discovered.  My theme for this week, given we've had a week of glorious spring weather, is of course, Spring.  So, here goes!

1.  A Spring Flowers Necklace!   

2.  Dinky Spring Pin Cushion!

 

3.  Spring Blue Primula

 

4.  Delicate 'Spring' Set

 

5.  Spring Flower Dress - Age 3-4 

6.  Spring Inspired Bookmark 

7.  Pretty in Pink Anemones Bridal Bouquet   

8.  Spring Stripe Bird Applique Fabric Cushion 

9.  Spring Time 

And last, but not least,

10.  Spring Hat

So there you go!  Ten things you can buy from shops on Folksy.  Enjoy!

Hard Work!

School's back in, and so returns the rush around between all the various places the children have to go.  Not me of course, I have nowhere to go (oh, okay, I work for my little old man on Fridays, but hey, that's *after* rushing around after the kids in the first place).  It's a little bit exhausting, to say the least!  When my husband was between jobs it was a lot easier, occasionally he'd do the school run, and he helped out with the the late pick-up after Scouts...but now he's at work, it's all down to me.

And I get a wee bit tired of it!

Oh well!

Anyway, this week I have had the youngest home on Monday - his nursery didn't go back until Tuesday'; I had grocery shopping to do on Tuesday, and then I had to mop the kitchen floor on Wednesday, because with the kids being home for nearly 3 weeks I didn't quite have the opportunity to do much housework (!!)...Wednesday was the first opportunity I had.  I also managed to do a bit of crafting yesterday afternoon, so that was nice - I've been itching to get some done all week.  I've listed it on Folksy - would you like to see?

 




What do you think?  If you would like to buy my bunting, it's listed here.  I have 3 sets - the other two just need assembling as yet...you might like to know too that I now post overseas, not just within the UK.  Oh, and all proceeds from sales in my Folksy Shop go towards sending my daughter to the 22nd World Scouting Jamboree (which I'm *sure* I've never mentioned on here before...!

I listed some other things on Folksy - mostly buttons.  I have access to a lot of lovely buttons, and so rather than keeping them all to myself, I thought it might be nice to share them...I can't be the only person in the world who likes pretty buttons, surely?  I wanted to put some pics up of them, but they don't seem to want to load, so I'll just give you some links instead...I hope that's okay!

5 Silver Buttons

4 Purple Buttons

3 Ceramic Buttons (these ones are my particular favourite!)

Tonight I'm having a relaxing evening...well, after I've finished supervising No. 1 Son's revision for the 11+...

Blue and Purple Totes

I was *sure* I'd posted photos of these...but it turns out I've not, and considering I'm particularly pleased with them, I can't understand why I've not so far done it!  Anyway, here are my blue and purple totes - previously mentioned, but never before seen (on this blog): 













So there you go!  What do you think?  I think they're lovely...but of course, I'm biased!

The Leisure Centre - Part 2

I had a bit of a tidy up yesterday...so I thought I'd post some pics of the floor...

 
Well, it's mostly tidy!  Yes, that's my square of Persian Carpet (other carpets are available).  Isn't it lovely!

I also have taken a couple of pics of my lastest purchase...there was a garage sale at the top of our street yesterday - I've never seen one over here before, but I guess people must have them - so I thought I'd best go take a look.. 


Yes, it was the clothes rail!  It cost me £3 and I think that's a bit of a bargain in terms of a business expense!  The IKEA hanging thingy I'd had for ages (bought from one of my favourite charity shops) and I'd not known where to hang it...but it's designed for hanging from a clothing rail, so I believe it's found its natural home!

Oh, and you might have noticed a few things hanging from it already...the pinky/apricoty things are cushion covers I'm using to make bags - like this: 




What do you think?  I think technically it's called a "messenger bag".  All I know is, it's lovely!   The cushion cover was very easy sewing, and I'd recycled the d-rings from a curtain tie-back, and was looking for an opportunity to use them.  I reckon it works quite well!

Table Sale - Part 2

We made £22!

What's amazing about that is that I didn't sell anything at all...it was all in raffle ticket sales!  No. 1 Son was a bit slack at the beginning, but then he worked out that all he had to do was hassle all the people he knew  - mostly Cubs/Scouts/Beavers Leaders and their spouses (spice??) and their kids...plus other Cubs - and he'd make a sale!  The tickets were 20p each, so...a quick bit of maths shows that he sold 110 tickets!  What a good boy (well, 100 - I sold 10 from a secondary book while he was off around the place selling...).

You know what the really strange thing is?  Daughter (she who is going to Sweden...with the 22nd World Scouting Jamboree...I'm sure I must have mentioned this before!) had a Table Sale at school - and she made £22.19!  Not sure where the 19p came from - but weird that we made the same amount of money!

Anyway, not the £120 I was dreaming of/wishing for, but hey, it's a lot better than nothing at all!

I shall take photos of (and put up in my Folksy Shop) the pretty totes I made, but not today...too tired!

So - you might be wondering - where is this Mysterious Daughter, that she wasn't there helping me raise money to send her to Sweden?

On a Jamboree Training Camp!  Of course!  Where else would she be???

Table Sale

Bit of a stressful afternoon, but not nearly so stressful as when I was getting ready for Misty Moon!  Tomorrow is the 6th Mottingham Cubs Table Sale, and I have a table...No. 1 Son (the Cub in the family) is having a raffle and selling some stuff to raise money to send his sister to Sweden next year...you know why!  I've been busily making bags - totes, shoulder bags, lavender bags...you name it, I've bagged it!  The t-shirt yarn bags which I featured on here the other day (you may now also see them on my Folksy page - they're still available to buy even now...) additionally I've made some lovely totes by upcycling curtains - 3 yellow with botanical pics (also seen on this blog), and today, 3 blue/purple with screen-printed flowers on them.  All are lovely, if I may say so myself!

Anyway, must go, this is a quickie - it's time for Ashes to Ashes, and I dare not miss a second!

I'll let you know how I went...

The Leisure Centre

I know *ages* ago I mentioned that Hubby and I adapted the kids play room (aka The Garden Studio) so it's now my studio.  There's a lovely sign hanging above the entrance which says "Leisure Centre" - so the Leisure Centre it is:

 So anyway, yesterday I had a bit of a tidy up (not the floor...nobody's seeing the floor!) and I took some photos of the *inside*.  Hope you like them! Here's my desk - ooh, there's a bit of floor showing - but what you don't see is my square of Persian Carpet (other carpets are available) right behind the chair which is covered in little bits of fluff and thread...naughty me...I must get the dustpan and brush and broom out there...someday!  Anyway, there's my sewing machine, my iron (it gets more use in the Leisure Centre than it does in the house, believe you me...), and my bookcase filled with loads of supplies.  On the desk (the red thing to the left) is the Sizzix machine belonging to my friend Val.  At the back right hand corner of the desk is a box absolutely filled to the brim with Sizzix dies...we made a whole stack for the Misty Moon Easter Art and Craft Fair, bagged them into lots of 100 and I sold a couple.  The rest were sold by my daughter at her school Easter Fair, and she raised some money with them towards her Jamboree (not sure I've mentioned before that she's going to the Jamboree next year??).
A closeup of the bookcase and my fabrics and other stuff.  The mags are mostly "Country Living", but there's also a good selection of "Country Homes and Interiors" (plus a few others).  I've found that what "Country Living" feature in their "Emporium" pages turns up at Craft Fairs or on the High Street about a year after, so the trick is to beat everyone else!  There is the downside in that things don't tend to sell as well when they're not in fashion, but sometimes you can strike it lucky.  The bags hanging on the hook are made from curtains we used to have hanging in our lounge room (and in Hubby's and my bedroom), while the pictures on them are from a lovely curtain I bought for £1.00 at my favourite charity shop.  Still plenty more where those came from...it's just a matter of making them up... ...As you can see on the back of this chair!
The TV cabinet, still containing our Australian telly, VCR and DVD player...these used to be where my desk now is.  Sad to say they're pretty much destined for the dump - we don't have the room for them any more, and over Christmas we discovered that the DVD player was playing up badly.  The VCR is older than most of our children...and has been known to chew the occasional tape...none of them are compatible with UK TV signals, and there's no SCART sockets, so we can't use them for television viewing...and the TV cabinet has been...well...abused somewhat by the children...we'll see what happens.  They've been sitting there for a couple of months now waiting for Hubby to "get around" to disposing of them...on top of the TV cabinet are my "leftovers" (sorry, inventory) from Misty Moon...I have a table at the Cubs Table Sale this Saturday so hopefully I'll be able to sell some of them there.

What do you think of my sofa bed cover?  I paid £4 for it - again, from my favourite charity shop!
Ooh - what's that on the sofa bed?  Could it be, works in progress?  The basket chair next to it belonged to my great-grandfather, and when my grandmother died I inherited it from her.  It could be a Lloyd Loom, but then on the other hand, I'm not sure.  I suppose I could turn it over to see if there's a label...but it wouldn't matter to me one way or the other - I love it, and it reminds me of Nanna, so that's all that matters.

Ooh - there's a tiny glimpse of my square of Persian Carpet (other carpets are available...)!
This map of Australia I found in a skip outside the kids' school...How *dare* they throw it away!  Anyway, waste not, want not!  I remember having one of these when *I* was at school...could be why they were throwing it away, after all, I went to school in the Dark Ages...
Okay - here's some close ups of my work in progress.  I've been told that I should concentrate on one item rather than over-diversifying, and so after showing the ladies in my crochet class a bag I was working on, crocheted from cut-up t-shirts, and having them "oohing" and "ahhing" over it, I've decided to go into the making of them big time.  I'm now working my way up to the hard part, that of lining them...
No. 1 is done...see the lovely pocket!
My favourite bag - check out the size of that flower!
This too is lined, again, look at that pocket!  Skill, or what!

None of the rest are lined yet, but they shall be by Saturday...you are very privileged to be getting a sneak peek before they're properly finished!





What do you think?

Anyway, that's all from me today.  And, as it's Easter Sunday, remember - Christ is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!!

Folksy!

After an age of threatening, I have opened a Folksy shop.  It's only fairly small potatoes at the moment (only 5 items) but hopefully something will come of it.  I've listed some brooches I've made in the past few months and one of my scarves, and I've decided for the time being all proceeds will go towards sending my daughter to Sweden...of course!

I also have an Etsy account, but I've not listed anything there yet.  I'll see how I go with the Table Sale on Saturday and whatever I have left from that I'll list in both places.

EDIT - I have listed some items in my Etsy Shop!

22nd World Scouting Jamboree

I've bitten the bullet and I've set up a Facebook Page to raise funds towards sending my daughter to the 22nd World Scouting Jamboree in Sweden next year (I'm *sure* I've mentioned before that she's part of the SE London contingent??!).  Anyway, there's going to be details of things we're doing towards getting the money for her, sales of things and whatever, plus on the "info" page there's a link to my PayPal account, which takes you directly to a donation button.  (ooh - I've put it here too...)  Anyway, don't feel pressured, but please show your support if you're on Facebook by visiting or commenting or whatever...every little helps! 

School's Out for Easter!!

Excited, me?  Yes, a wee bit.  The kidlets are off school for 18/19 days - the youngest returns to Nursery on 20/4 wheras all the others go back to school on 19/4 - we don't have anything big planned, in fact, not much planned at all, mostly down to not having the money - but I don't mind one little bit!  Oh, we have a trip to the Dentist on the 9th, and I have a Table Sale at Cubs on the 10th, and Daughter's going off on Jamboree Training Camp, also on the 10th, returning on the 11th...Oh and No. 1 Son has a Computer Badge course for Cubs on the 7th...and I have to go visit my Little Old Man on Monday...apart from that, nothing!

I love Easter.  It's not the chocolate egg stuff, it's the promise of resurrection.  Christ's resurrection is celebrated - He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!  No, we don't have to remain in the grave when we die - we are not without hope when we are in Christ - for HE has gone before us, he's tested the waters and said, "Come on in!  It's lovely!"  In my life, in my husband's life, in the lives of our children, we see Christ everywhere - an answered prayer here, something "too co-incidental" there...He is there, at work in our lives at every minute of the day.  Thank you, Jesus, for not giving up when you were so sorely tempted to do so.

Amen.

Meh

Didn't do very well at Misty Moon today, don't know why, actually ended up out of pocket - table was £25 (but £12.50 to me because Val and I shared costs) and I only made £10.50 - and spent £2.70 on a toasted sandwich!  Oh well, swings and roundabouts, I've a table sale for the Cubs on 10 April, so I'll make some money from that.  I hope.  And...there's other fairs - Red Hill's Summer Fair is coming up on 19 June, so I can make stuff for that.

I got to see Graham Cole (formerly Tony Stamp in The Bill),so it's not all bad.  Maybe.

Oh my!

A little bit of stress and tension in our household.  First off we have Husband working.  Okay, one day money will be coming in, but it's not happened yet, although there is a rumour that it shall be showing its face somewhere near the end of the month.  Which is soon.  Hurrah!  Secondly, Husband isn't happy where he's working, most upset last night about being away from home and hearth, as it were.  It's the weekend though, so there's a little bit of relief in sight, and we prayed about it, he mostly has to remember to take some reading material with him next week, that was half the problem.  I can see the books he intended to take...sitting on his desk!

Next we were waiting for the notice about what school our baby boy is going to go to - okay, he's 4 in May, he's not such a baby!  The notices went in the post yesterday, and I only applied for one school - the one his sister had gone to and his 2 older brothers are currently attending.  Even though the odds were fairly stacked in his favour, sibling-preference and all that, and having 2 siblings at the school would likely stack them even higher, it still didn't stop me having a heart-sickening worry that he wouldn't get a place. 

Anyway, the post's been, he's been awarded a place, as we'd hoped.  Hurrah!

Lastly, and quite possibly the most pressing one - I am selling at Misty Moon Easter Art and Craft Fair tomorrow!  I'm not quite sure how much stuff I will have, but I have a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that it's not quite enough, and I'm going to put a bit of an effort in between now and then...what am I doing on here??  Wish me well!

Bleurgh

Husband's home! Hooray!  I feel ill.  Boo!  Is it possible to be allergic to onions?  Every time I eat them I suffer all night long, belly pain.  This morning I've been suffering in other ways...no I won't go into details, but I've been able to catch up with a lot of my reading, if you know what I mean.  It's not nice.

No. 1 Son is going to make his first foray into the big wide world of public transport by himself today - and I say it's about time.  He has a book group he attends, and ordinarily his sister or I would take him, but she's away on camp, and I'm feeling under the weather, so it's off by himself.  He's very nearly 10, and I'm going to take him to the bus stop and see him onto the bus...he knows exactly where to go, there's no reason for him to not get there safely, and I'll pick him up when it's over. 

He's a bit scared (more than a bit!) and so am I, but I mustn't show it!  He has lots of mates who walk to school by themselves, which he could quite easily do too (or at least catch the bus - there's others who do that too) but he lacks the confidence.  MInd you, his sister was the same, and she goes to and from school by train these days, and pops into the shops for me if required...I guess it just takes a first time and then he'll be fine.  He's made strides in his confidence levels lately, he attends a music class at the church across the road of a Saturday afternoon, and he's able to get there and back by himself.  We can only try.

Very slack, I know!

Sorry folks!  I've not been on here for a while because it's been head down, bottom up for the past few weeks, getting ready for Misty Moon!  It's an Arts and Crafts Fair, on 20th March, so hopefully I'm going to have enough stuff.

Husband has also started work, yesterday in fact. They rang on Monday and asked if he could start on Wednesday, but Wednesday was his birthday...so no go so far as we were concerned!  Anyway, he started yesterday morning, and as I type, is (hopefully) just about home.  It's a nice, short introduction to his new working life.  Sometimes there's going to be weekend work.  Not this or next weekend though, as this weekend he doesn't have access to the building yet, and next weekend I've already planned for him to look after the kids while I do Misty Moon...It's only 3 months though, so I guess I can cope...I'll have to!).   Next week will tell though.  He's waiting very impatiently for his credit card to arrive, because we're sort of cutting it a bit fine in terms of our money situation.  Never mind though, worry is a sin and God has a plan, He keeps showing this to be true!  Yesterday morning we were up at 5.30 to get him off and running, and it completely wiped me out, so, although I had high hopes of spending 2 hours in the Studio doing some sewing (ie. after the kids had gone to bed) I was fast asleep on the lounge at 8.  Fortunately I woke up on the dot of 9 to be able to tell No. 1 Son it was time to go to bed ("Rats!" said he).

In addition to getting up at the crack of dawn yesterday, I also popped into Knitshop, a lovely shop owned by my friend Julieta.  We got to know each other when our children were in nursery together, and back then she was running things out of a small studio and online.  Knitshop is still online, but her shop in Lee Green is fantastic - I just wanted to feel everything.  I bought some gorgeous cotton ribbon yarn (think cut up t-shirts, but neater) and have nearly finished it all.  I've offered my services as a knitter, a "proof-knitter" if you like, and I go back in next week to pick up my pattern and yarn.  She's also asked if I can "proof-crochet" some patterns when she gets some together...oh, and would I like to make some patterns myself, and sell them to Knitshop?  Oooh yeah!!  It's stuff like this that really excites me and I feel like I can quite possibly make a living in the visual and creative arts.  I can't wait!

I've also been typing for Jim, my little old man up the road who's been carrying a book around in his head since 1945.  I generally go up to his place on a Friday morning when No. 3 Son is ensconced in Nursery, but this week Jim has a friend staying with him, so rather than get in their way we decided I could work from home this week (and next week, as I thought I had something on next Friday, but it turns out that's actually the following Friday - note to self:  ring Jim!).  Because I'm now taking No. 3 Son everywhere with me rather than the luxury I had before, which was leaving him with The Good Husband, I had to plot what I was going to do before I did it, and so after dropping off Nos. 1 and 2 Sons at school, I asked No. 3 to watch a DVD or play on the computer (his choice) while I did my typing for Jim.  All done by 9.30, just in time to take No. 3 to Nursery...couldn't be easier!  I came home and went straight out to the Studio, where I sewed wheat bags for 1 and 3/4 hours...before I had to pick up No. 3 again at 12, have lunch, then pick up Nos. 1 and 2 from school...

Is it any wonder I'm exhausted???

Yay!

He has the job and starts on Thursday!!!!

Meanwhile my crochet class is going great guns and I'm going to continue it after Easter with anyone who wants to keep going, plus some newbies from my waiting list - *and* I'm going to teach a more-advanced class on another night.

My typing for the little old man is going well too...

Additionally I've been in negotiations with a friend who runs a wool shop to do some crochet and knitting projects for her...

How did I get so busy??

Creations...

 

Okay - now the idea is that these are going to be bunting - can you see it?  I will have 8 of these Matryoshkas/Babooshkas on a string, separated by flags - what do you think?  I've had criticism that they're not bright/patterned enough, but firstly the photos don't do the colours justice, they're very bright - and secondly they're in felt, which doesn't lend itself much to pattern.  Oh, and thirdly, I was going for minimalist, so that's why there's no faces either.  So, having said all that, what do you think?

I'm busily making stuff for the Misty Moon Easter Craft and Arts Fair and thinking long and hard (and surfing long and hard too for that matter) to find stuff that's going to be *different* to what's normally on offer.  I have a load of Amigurumi pin cushions as well, plus my brooches.  If I make about 5 sets of felt Matryoshka bunting, plus 5 sets of patterned/bright, non-felt ones, plus regular triangle bunting, plus all the other stuff...(I might even throw in the t-shirts I made for the School Summer Fair last year, and my leftovers from the School Christmas Fair - why not?)...I might just have enough stock.  I'm thinking long and hard too about how to make some lovely tote bags - I have a handbag I made myself from upholstery fabric, and I sold a few in the same fabric as totes last year - yeah, why not!  I guess I'd best be off to the sewing machine...

Later on today I'll take some photos of my studio, the "Leisure Centre" and you'll see just what a lovely set up I have!  I've mentioned to Hubby that down the track I'd like a laptop for out there, so I'm completely the business woman.  Of course, I'd have to have a printer/scanner as well...

Woot!

She got in!!!!  My daughter just received a phone call to say she made the team representing South East London for the World Scout Jamboree in Skåne (in Southern Sweden) next year.  Serious yaying in our house...

Wet wet wet...

My daughter's away on a Scout Camp this weekend.  Not just any Scout Camp, but a selection camp to choose the lucky 27 Scouts who will be reperesenting South East London next year in Skåne, Sweden (my favourite part of Sweden, primarily because of Henning Mankell and Wallander).  Now, I'm not sure if it has anything to do with her, but every time she goes on a Scout Camp...it rains.  We thought the hoodoo might have been broken, as yesterday was, not quite glorious, but compared to the weather we've been having lately, positively tropical.  True, we had a spit of rain, but nothing to write home about, and definitely nothing which would threaten the whole weekend.  But this morning...we woke to torrential rain...and it doesn't seem to be wanting to give up...still, it could be worse.  A few weeks back we looked at the long-range forecast for this weekend, and we were supposedly having HEAVY SNOW!  Glad that one went away...

To make matters worse, our car is playing up a bit, and I'm a bit worried that my husband won't be able to get to the campsite today to pick her up (what, you were thinking I was going to do it??!  Hah!)...the car's been working quite well for the past couple of months, but yesterday it had a hiccup on Hubby's return from the campsite.  Urgh.  Oh well.  We'll see what happens.  She'll be cold and wet, but I'm sure she'll have had a great time.  We'll find out by the 8th of March - I'll keep you posted.

In other news, Hubby and I spent quite a bit of time yesterday tidying up our Garden Studio (photos are here somewhere of a sign which says "Leisure Centre" - that's the Garden Studio), getting all the toys and crud out of it, so it will become a proper studio for me, and a hang-out for us girls (daughter and myself) away from the Testosterone City that is our house.  I'm quite excited about it all!

Crochet class tomorrow night - we're out of printer ink, so unlike last week, when I had take-home sheets for my class (hence there being no printer ink...) I'll be doing stuff out of my head.  I'm sure I'll be fine.

Oh - and Hubby has a phone-interview tomorrow for a 3-month contract!  Prayers please, we need this job!

Lovely

My twitter account was hacked overnight by p*rn spammers...who sent DMs to people on my followers list.  Yuck.  Be vigilant, don't have the same password for everything!

Lacemaking

Now that I know what I have, I suppose I should look into learning how to do it...but not for a while.

Just to prove it *is* a lacemaker's pillow, here's some pics I've found on t'interwebs:

 

Lacemaker - Caspar Netscher, 1664

 

Pillow Lace Maker - Thomas Woolner (not sure what year, but he died 1892)

And finally:

 

The Lacemaker - Jan Vermeer, 1669

Now - my crochet class went very very well last night!  3 out of 4 of my students "got it" which was lovely, as I'd been stressing about how I'd go about teaching, so it's confirmation really that I *am* able to convey my skills, and that maybe I should look more in depth about how to go about sharing to a wider group.  One of my "students" has just said that she's ready for a greater challenge, and she's made a big granny square this morning - I couldn't be more pleased!

Post Script

Remember my mystery object from a while back?  The one that looked like an enormous pincushion??  Well, I think my Dad has solved the puzzle.

He asked if it might be a tatting pillow.  Now, I'd never heard of a tatting pillow, but it piqued my interest, so I decided to have a little looksee by way of a search engine, ooh, one which rhymes with "frugal".

Nothing.

Another search, this time for tatting cushion, and I came up with this:

http://www.knitting-and.com/blog/tatting/

About halfway down the page is this picture:

  

What do you think?  I reckon my Dad's hit the nail on the head.  Or pin even...

Now all I have to do is learn how to tat!  Doesn't look too hard in the pic above...

Oh - and wish me luck!  Been cleaning ALL DAY and now want to have a bit of a nap before my ladies come around (and they're ALL ladies -  I couldn't interest even one man in learning to crochet - who would have thought it!) at 8pm.  Hopefully they'll be teachable, and we'll all have a lot of fun - and they'll go away tonight being able to make (at the very least) a chain of crochet!

PPS - further investigation leads me to believe it's also known as a lacemaker's pillow.

Oh My!

Beyond all my belief (goodness, where was my faith?) my crochet class has grown completely out of control and I have now had to say to people that they can't come on Monday nights, but would they like to come on Tuesdays instead!  Imagine!  I have too many people!  I had thought I'd not get anyone...and now I have 6 confirmed attendees for my Monday night class, and at least 2 coming on Tuesdays.

I guess I'd better be good then...and definitely clean my kitchen tomorrow!

Captured!

I know it's been done before, but I quite liked the idea and so I thought I'd make one myself:

  

I have more butterfly related stuff but I've taken several hours to upload this pic (ADSL modem problems - my husband is an absolute guru though, and he's made do and mended!  Hurrah!) so this will do for the time being!

Hooray!

I have a little job!  Nothing massive (duh!  That's why it's a little job!) but it's 1 hour a week typing a manuscript for a local man who's had this book going around in his head since 1945...and he started putting it on paper 10 years ago...basically he needs someone to tell him "that's enough!" and type it out, because he keeps making changes...hence the 10 years!  My job (apart from the typing) is to be objective...and firm!

We met today (after having first talked on the phone on Tuesday night) and he's a lot of fun, we had a good laugh!  He's old enough to be my grandfather, and he reminds me a lot of my Dear Nanna....sniff!

First paid appointment is this Friday at 10am - wish me all the best!

Crafts with the Kids

Good Morning (well, actually, good afternoon, it's 12.12...)!

I don't know how your half-term is going, or even if you have a half-term, but today at our house it's very very wet!  So, rather than go out anywhere, the children and I have made some bookmarks!

I found this website the other day, when I was having a bit of a search on Twitter If you have a bit of a look around, they're more than just a webshop, they've also loads of ideas of things to make with stuff you may just happen to have lying around.

And so we did!

Our bookmarks came from this page on their website.  We adapted the directions a bit - would you like to see what we made?

 

The third one is my daughter's - isn't she talented!  The rest are mine though...what do  you think?  The book is an old one we brought over from Australia called "Victorian Lives".  I bought it from a library and I don't think I've ever read it...it's made from the most lovely paper - I think hemp, because it's woven - so rather than have it cluttering our shelves, unloved, it lives to see another day!

Most exciting!

Remember I put an ad in my Church newsletter advertising my crochet classes?   And I didn't think I'd get any response?  WELL...I didn't get any yesterday, but TODAY I have received a phone call and an e-mail about it!  Woot!  So that takes us up to 4 people, plus me!!  Lots more room if you're interested in coming...£25 covers 5 x 2 hour sessions, Monday evenings at my place, commencing 22 February, 8-10pm.  You get your own crochet hook and wool, and cake and other refreshments.  I think that's fairly good value, don't you?  The aim is to teach everyone how to make a granny square, and by the end I hope we'll have made enough squares for an afghan blanket, which we'll donate to Smile International, so it's for a good cause, AND you get to learn a very handy skill!

My Half-Term so Far...

Well, with my husband being out of work for the past 13 months (I hope you're still looking for work for him - IT Security, IT Infrastructure, preferably in the London or West Kent area, but he will travel for contract work), I have had to bite the bullet and sign myself up at the Jobcentre.  Why on earth didn't I do this before?  Well, when my husband signed up (later rejected, because he's an Australian citizen with no recourse to UK Government Funds), I went along with him, and I'm *certain* the "advisor" said I wasn't entitled to JSA because I was already in receipt of Child Benefit.  Looking back, I wonder if what she really said was something along the lines of, "You're probably not looking for work because you have four children to look after" (or words to that effect), but if she'd realised how much of a struggle it's been the past 6 months since my husband was rejected - I could have applied there and then and we'd have had a bit of a breathing space.  Oh well.  No matter.  I'm a dual UK/Australian national, so I'm entitled, so I've applied, and ooh, as in my former life I used to work for the Australian equivalent of the Jobcentre (OH the IRONY) I have put down that I'm looking for jobs of an administrative nature.

Not artist.  Not craftsperson.  Not creative jobs.  Because they don't pay well apparently.

I've applied for quite a few jobs, I've applied for a very exciting one, which might well come my way if my "advisor" sees fit to send my CV to the right place...I'm going to go back to the Jobcentre tomorrow just to make sure (with a spare copy of my CV).

So anyway...

Since returning home from my big adventure at the Jobcentre I've been very busy making stuff.  You wanna see?

 




I've had these kilt pins kicking around for a while, and then on Friday I saw a friend's daughter wearing one with bits of stuff hanging off it.  "Where'd you get that?"  I asked.  "Claire's", she replied.  "How much?", say I, pound signs appearing inside my head.  "Not much", says she, "I bought it for 50p in the sales".  "Oh", I reply, much deflated.  Still, if they're 50p in the sales, that would indicate that they're more expensive normally...pound signs are still floating about...

Now, the one that ISN'T a kilt pin is my new watch with its super duper watch strap.  I purchased, considering I'm going to be a high powered executive secretary shortly (NOT!) a watch from Lidl yesterday.  It was £2.99, and officially (and you can probably tell this from the picture on the watch itself) it's a child's watch.  "No problem", I think, "I have small wrists, I can fit into a child's watchband!"  Of course, that is until I take it home and try to put it on.  Yes, it fit, but it had a velcro strap, and the hooks and eyes didn't quite meet, so I sat for a little bit and had a think.

"Ooh!  Those leather thongs!"  So after a little bit of plaiting and unplaiting, and considering a bead or two might be useful, it's done and so there you go!  It's a bit hard to get it tight, but it does the job, and looks quite lovely, if I might say so myself.

So anyway, it's St Valentine's Day today, and so I wish all my regular (and not so regular) readers a very lovely day.  If you're selling things for the day, I hope that you do well!  I'm taking a few things with me to Church today (including the kilt pins and the felt flower I was commissioned to make last week) to see if I can get some sales.  I also have a notice in our Church newsletter about my crochet classes (commencing 22nd February), so hopefully I'll get some interest about that today too.  Of course, these aren't the real reason I'm going to Church, merely sidelines!

Not a lot!

Half term hols started here today, so I'll likely be offline a bit...in the meantime, I've updated my flickr photostream, so if you want to check it out (and make some comments!), it's found here:

Also, remember I'm on Twitter, just click here or go to Twitter and look for Hats_Outrageous, and you'll find me!

Feeling a bit foolish...

We had a short-lived blizzard at 5.30 yesterday afternoon, and as the kids and I had a full programme of events (our normal Wednesday evening) I cancelled, on the basis that a woman at the bus stop earlier that afternoon had said we were going to get 5 inches of snow overnight.

Guess what?  Barely an inch fell in that blizzard, and nothing since.

Hanging head in shame.

Apologies to Beavers and Scouts and J whose party I hope went alright without my presence...

What to do??

Monday night I had a very precise dream in which I'd made an absolutely enormous felt flower, and I went through all the steps as to how to make it.  Yesterday I sat down and made it - fortunately my dream hadn't gone completely off the deep end and put as part of the instructions that I had to grow wings and fly around the room as part of it.

Only question now - what to do with the thing?  My daughter has quite rightly pointed out that it's far too massive for a hair clippy thing (it's a full 15cm across!), and I think it would enter the room several minutes before the rest of me if I put a pin on the back and called it a brooch - but what else could I do with it?  Should I put it on a headband?  Put it on a hair tie for pulling back a pony tail?  I hope you like it!

 

Comments would be appreciated, on a postcard please, or otherwise in my comments box...

(EDIT:  I sewed a great big kilt pin on the back of it...the jury's still out as to what use it is...)

A Couple of Things...

I've updated my Flickr photostream !

I've succumbed and joined Twitter!  Follow me here.

(Wouldn't it be nice if you all followed me there and we could chat about stuff!  If you have a Twitter page, put a link with a comment and I'll follow you too!)

Lastly - does anyone know of any IT Security jobs going?  Preferably in London, but travelling (within reason) can be an option.  My husband has OODLES of experience, like 20 plus years, he's an absolute guru, but was made redundant in January last year.  Because he took a year out of working in the technical side, to go to Audit, recruiters can't seem to see past that to the stacks of techo experience he has - and the Catch-22 is that he doesn't have enough experience in Audit to go there.  He's had interviews for 3 jobs since he was laid off, and got to the third round with one job, and the second with another...but they turned him down at the last minute.  Both jobs are still open...co-incidence?  I don't think so.  The one he got to the third round with had been open for 6 months before he applied for it...Hmmm...There was a possible job lined up for him back at his old company, but they seem to be backpedaling at the moment...he's a bit depressed.  If you know anything, even a short-term contract would be good, just to get some money coming in and to get his self-confidence back up to speed, then, pop a line in the comment box.  Thanks!!!

Sharing...

Overnight I had a commission for a brooch from a friend.  She liked this one:

  

But...could I make it for her in pink please?  Certainly, say I.  I'll see what I can whip up this morning, and I'll bring it with me to Church.

TWO HOURS LATER and this is what I've come up with:

 
It was torture, I tell you!  The felt wouldn't sit right, I had to unpick and resew, then unpick and resew...anyway, being the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided it wasn't enough to just make a felt one, I made a foam version too.

What do you think?

 
I prefer the felt version myself, but they both have their good points I guess!

Anyway, Husband came down from bed after all my hard work, and has decreed we're not going to Church this morning after all (we're all suffering from obnoxious head colds, so it was a bit of an ambit claim on my part anyway...).  Oh well!

What I have so far!

These are the items I currently have for sale.  I was going to set up a Folksy account, but it only lets you use PayPal, and as PayPal are useless and won't let us set up an account (long, long, long story!!) I'm going to try from here using a Google Checkout account.  Confused?  I certainly am!

Anyway, lets see what we can do...I've put the pics up on a Flickr Photostream rather than wait 30,000 years for them to upload here...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26032080@N08/?saved=1

Let me know what you think!  I'm looking at selling them for £3 each with £1 postage (within the UK - other countries are available at a rate of £2).