Hats Outrageous!

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!

 

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 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!

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!

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!

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...

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!

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!

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!

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!!!

The day after...

Thanks everyone who wished me a happy birthday!  It was so lovely, and completely unexpected!  Very nice to know that people actually read my blog - bit of an incentive to get on with it and do some more posting...

I've been feeling a bit fluey today, and so my wonderful husband offered to do the school run this afternoon while I had a nap - he even took the 3 year old with him...but of course, as soon as the front door closed I was up and down here on the computer!  Bad,  I know.  I have things to do though!

I've convinced said husband that PayPal isn't such a bad thing, and in the next day or so I shall be opening a Folksy shop so I can sell some of the lovely little things I have shown you on here.  I'm currently working on some Valentine's Day Brooches, made either from felt or foam, but all definitely gorgeous.  They'll be selling for £3 each, plus £1 postage.  I'll be sure to post a link to my shop so you can all have a look and hopefully buy them from me!  I'm going to put up some of my hats and scarves and gloves too (as well as some other stuff I have in my "stash") so there'll be plenty of variety to choose from.

Until then, see ya!  I'd best be off back to bed, as they'll all be home soon, and I'll have to explain why I'm downstairs!

Just a quickie, plus some work in progress

I finished these today, £3 each. If you're interested - drop me a line.

 



 

I also have some work in progress - what do you reckon?

 
It's a crown (duh!) sewn onto a piece of cloth, which I'm in the process of sewing onto another piece of cloth.  Keen eyes will spot bits of lace here and there.  What do you think?  I'm going to turn it into a cushion, with something like "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON" or the like (maybe "GET EXCITED AND MAKE STUFF") embroidered underneath the crown.

Well!

It seems that my unidentified object (now, that's an idea!  Maybe it's a UFO?) piqued lots of interest...let's see what I can do today!

I had some new books arrive yesterday, well, new to me but well-known to lots of people in my grandparents' generation, because they're "Make Do and Mend" and "Eating for Victory".  Fascinating stuff, but at the same time very sad, because it's made me think about several things.

How much have we forgotten how to do?  This was what it was like at the Fall of Rome...people forgot stuff and so we had the Dark Ages (allegedly).

Also - how TOUGH was it!  I baulk at the idea of patching items of clothing, and indeed, my idea of "make do and mend" would be laughed at by the Wartime Generation.  I cut down trousers for my 3 year old to turn them into shorts (he has quite a lot of lovely shorts made from size 18-24 months trousers - too short for him in the legs, but as he is a boy, he has no hips, so therefore they still fit him quite well as shorts), but it's hardly something I *have* to do.  I was reading about clothing coupons to my husband this morning from "Make Do and Mend".  Adults were allocated 66 coupons to last an entire year.  That might sound a lot, but it's not really.  An unlined Mac or other sort of unlined overcoat was worth 9 coupons!  In order to buy a fully lined coat, you would have to sacrifice 18 coupons.  A separate lining would save you some, but not much, as it was 7 coupoons.  A child's coat was 7 coupons, with separate lining being another 4.  Children received 10 coupons more than adults...Don't forget too, and I only just realised this, you had to, on top of submitting your coupons, pay for the items as well.  The coupon system was so the government could limit how much new stuff people bought so the bulk could be reserved for the war effort.  For some reason I had presumed that it was more of a socialist sort of arrangement, with the government paying wages in coupons, but it seems not to have been the case at all.  I can see how the black market became so important during war time.  Yes, the coupon system made it fair for everyone (and "Make Do and Mend" stresses this quite often - "trying to beat the ration is the same as trying to cheat the nation"), but it must have cheered people up a little (and goodness, surely even Mr Churchill would have approved of a little cheer occasionally?) when they'd managed to get a luxury item from their local racketeer!

Now, back to my Unidentified Object.  The latest ideas are:  a stretcher for a beret or cap; a comfy seat for a pixie; a hat block of some sort; an *enormous* pincushion; or a display thingummy for jewellery or similar. 

Honestly, your guesses are as good as mine...

Crochet Classes

Want to crochet, but don’t know how?? Live in the Bromley/Mottingham/Chislehurst area?

Don’t despair!!

 
Come to my crochet class - 5 weeks on Monday evenings

8-10pm, starting 22 February.

Cost: £25

Price covers entire course and includes all your wool and your very own crochet hook - plus cake!

I have 30 years experience of crochet, and have made a range of items including

clothes (baby, child and adult sizes), blankets, rugs, cushions, hats, scarves, gloves and decorative items.

Just think - you could too!

For further details, drop me a line in my inbox or reply to this message.

Guaranteed to be lots of fun!

Add a caption

Want to crochet, but don’t know how?? Live in the Bromley/Mottingham/Chislehurst area? Don’t despair!! Come to my crochet class - 5 weeks on Monday evenings 8-10pm, starting 22 February. Cost: £25 Price covers entire course and includes all your wool and your very own crochet hook - plus cake! I have 30 years experience of crochet, and have made a range of items including baby clothing, blankets, rugs, cushions, hats, scarves, gloves and decorative items. Just think - you could too! For further details, drop me a line in my inbox or reply to this message. Guaranteed to be lots of fun!

Arty Farty or Crafty Wafty?

I get a bit confuzzled as to what to call the things I do.  You see, in the Dark Ages I spent three years at Art School - I didn't graduate though, which rankles a bit when I call myself an artist - am I offically entitled to do so?  But then I think, hey, there's plenty of people out there who are doing stuff in the art world who've not spent any time anywhere near an Art School - and it shows (snark snark!)!  So, I'm an artist.

But then...a lot of the stuff I do is probably better described as craft.  Crochet, knitting, sewing, decoupage...all craft.  Even jam-making and baking are crafts of sorts, of a home-making variety.  I guess I'm more of a craftswoman.  On my LinkedIn profile I describe myself as an Arts and Crafts Professional.  So, I guess, that's what I am - heck, I've sold stuff - I'm no longer an amateur!

ANYWAY...I've taken some photos - wanna see?

 

A lovely little corner.  I was at my 'puter yesterday and turned around to see this little tableau. 

 

A framed patchwork.  We had a spare space on our wall, I had an empty frame...and some bits and pieces of material left over from Christmas sewing...voila!

 

I think the colours go very well with our William Morris & Co. curtains - which, by the way, I bought from a charity shop for £2...gloat gloat!

 

I have had that collecting tray doing nothing but collect dust underneath our sideboard, so I asked the Good Husband to hang it on the wall...of course, I have yet to fill it up...

 

The crochet afghan in situ.  It's not too bad for a first attempt (well, a first attempt for a LOT of years) and it passes the test in terms of warmth...so that has to be good!

This'n'That

Today being the day after the day after Christmas, I thought it only right that the children tidy up a bit...ooh they didn't like that too much!  I decided it would be best if I led by example and did a bit of tidying up of my own - of course, that didn't last too long - no wonder my kids don't like tidying!

A year or so ago I bought a whole stack of bus blinds from a seller on eBay.  I had been watching various "repurposing" shops (Pedlars and RE, for example) buying up bus blinds and selling them on, framed or otherwise repurposed.  My blinds were never going to command the prices theirs sold for, as mine are from my local area, but I made a blind for my kitchen, I mounted a few others (you may recall "Leisure Centre" from a previous picture), which sold well...but I still had LOTS of blinds left.  Let's just say I went a bit crazy when I bought them initially...

Anyway, part of my tidying up today involved cutting the letters out of some of the less "useable" blinds (they might be a bit crumpled or dirty) and these I put in a jar for future use.  I sorted out the appropriate letters for the names of each of my kids, and the boys now have their names in bus letters stuck to their bunk beds.  My daughter has her name stuck to her wall.  A bit random, but that's how she liked it. 

I hadn't had enough fun yet.  So I did this:

 

Each letter was cut out individually and stuck down on excess black bus blind paper.

In this long shot you can see heaps of the stuff I've done over the past year - the pictures are train posters of time gone by, printed out and cut and stuck...then on the wash stand you can see some of my jam - I made some lovely sloe and blackberry jam the other night - it's to die for...there's a "bag bag" made in what I believe to be some William Morris pattern material (I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that), and finally, above the wash stand, is some of my "Christmas coloured" crochet bunting.  The whole lot looks very pretty, I think!

Typical!

Just when I had been rabbiting on about the snow, and if it was likely to snow, and ooh I wish it would snow...

It did!  Twice!  And there's the possibility of more!

We're pretty much, not snowed in, but iced in, and it's not too nice.

But boy, the snow certainly *is* pretty!

From our kitchen window, the one above the sink.  That's our picnic table, which sees a great deal of use during the warmer weather...out of frame we have a pizza oven (to the left) and a BBQ (to the right).  We were going to get a roofed pergola to go over the whole area, had ordered and paid for it, but the company (allegedly) went bust, and so we saw neither pergola (roofed) nor our money after that.  Oh well!  Short of small claims court, because we'd sent a cheque we apparently had no recourse to recouping our funds...

   

From our other kitchen window, the one above the toaster.  The "Leisure Centre" is our guest accommodation, and has proved quite handy this year as we've had 3 separate lots of visitors from Australia come to use it this year.  When not pressed into service as an extension, it's used by the children as their playroom.  We have a telly, DVD player and VCR we brought over with us from Australia in there, as well as more Thomas the Tank Engine and Doctor Who vids and DVDs than I would suggest you try to imagine.  Never mind the Lego and Duplo...

This is our youngest son doing some very important work in the back garden...

Speaking of tellies, our English telly has also decided to give up the ghost, which is a bit of a pain considering it's Christmas week, and so much good stuff to watch!  Oh well, I guess I have more time to do my crochet.  I'm making a granny square throw at the moment - the perfect thing to use when sitting on the sofa...watching the telly...d'oh!  Our Australian set (see above) will be relocated for a short while to the lounge room, as it's fairly imperative that there's a facility for watching DVDs once Christmas Day has arrived...

Lisa's Kitchen Crochet Class!

I'm biting the bullet and I've decided to teach crochet...I'm running a five week course (on Monday evenings) commencing 11 January. It's going to be at my place, cost is £20 which includes 1 crochet hook and yarn (and cakes!). Class size limited to 6 as we're in my kitchen, which although quite big, can only really comfortably fit 7 around our table (and the 7th one woudl be me...). Anyway, I have one taker already, so if you live in the Bromley area of South East London, and would be interested, drop me a line! We'd likely start at 8pm, probably have 2 hour sessions.