Hats Outrageous!

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!

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!"

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???

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.

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!

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...

In the Bleak Midwinter

The past couple of days the weather has just been miserable. Miserable.  Rainy, gloomy, cold, windy, yuck.  It's midwinter in South-East London - it's my 5th winter in London - you'd think I'd be used to it by now...but I'm not.

Anyway, the kids were going absolutely berko yesterday, so I announced: TOMORROW WE SHALL BE TAKING A WALK.  QUITE POSSIBLY TO THE PARK.

Much mirth and merriment ensued thereafter.

This morning, I lifted up No. 2 Son as he came down the stairs.  Not good, and an act that shall never be repeated as he is VERY HEAVY.  He's 6, very nearly 6 and a half, and only about half a head shorter than his very nearly 9 and a half year old brother - who is very tall, and who I gave up lifting long ago.  Anyway, I have hurt my back but REGARDLESS WE WERE GOING OUT.  It was decided the time of the going out would be 11am or as close as humanly possible, and so we did.

Oh goodness, what a lovely time we had!  It was so nice to just go outside, to breathe in some cold air, to be buffetted about by the prevailing winds (of which there were many).  I took some photos - would you like to see? First we took a trip to the local shops for provisions...it's New Year's Eve after all!  Nothing too dramatic, just some sweeties and mince pies (and bread...always bread).  The path to the park is a lovely long winding one...that just goes on.... And on... And on...Until we came to the first of many Pooh Stick bridges...where of course, we played Pooh Sticks! First, drop your stick... Then race to the other side, to see if it's come out... We didn't have a great deal of luck, even though we tried FOUR different bridges.  I won't bore you with pictures of all of them (but I DID take pictures of all of them, so if you ask nicely...!).  I think on average, we had one stick out of an average of six thrown in per bridge come out the other side.  Master 3 decided it was a much better idea to throw them in the "wrong" side - I must say, he had far more chance of seeing his sticks again than the rest of us did! All around the park there's these lovely meadowy bits.  Here is just one that took my eye.

I think I'll post some more pics tomorrow, mostly because I think they're worth it...

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!

Jammin'

I found this lovely stuff in Sainsbury's the other day - Ma Made, and given I had about 2 kilos of jam sugar in the cupboard I thought I'd give it a go!  Looks good so far - I made some great jams in the summer with my excess red currants, plus some lovely stuff from scrumped damsons and/or sloes, but I'd never seen pulp for sale before.  It made 3 medium-sized and 1 large jar, plus a jam pot full...and there was even enough for Husband to have some on toast...good value.

I'm now contemplating whether or not I should give a jar each to the teachers as their Christmas present, and make some more for us, or just give them a card...a few of which I made whilst making the marmalade...

It's funny what the weather can do to you. This morning it was quite wet and miserable, so I thought it would be a good idea to go out and get some fortifying foods, to keep us going. As soon as I returned home, the rain had gone and the sun had come out - fortifying foods were put away and I thought I'd best be making a cake! Out came the sponge mix (I swear by Sainsbury's Savings Brand - 23p - and with only an egg and some water, it's the best thing ever), plus some culinary lavender flowers I bought at The Hop Shop, when they had their Open Day back in July. The cake didn't quite turn out (it stuck to the pan) but the flavour was to die for. Husband and the kids loved it, and you know what? Even without trying, it was just that little bit fortifying.

No photos of it unfortunately...didn't last long enough!