Its a colourful life. Especially in the kitchen!

This is Arthur making Harry's Birthday cup cakes, full of magic rainbow sparkles.

George my eldest boy has magiked (I really can't spell any more) away my messy kitchen and added a beautiful rainbow, I would so love that to really happen in the kitchen.  Arthur has just seen this and gone to look in the kitchen for the rainbow...I hope he finds the pot of gold too.

Its a colourful life!

I am a bit late with this one, it was Harry's 15th Birthday last week aaaaahhh I must be getting old! Very scary! It was also Tony's big birthday for which we had a yummy special dinner altogether, with Rib of Beef with all the trimmings (am sounding like an old lady now!)from the Stourhead farm shop (our very local butchers), it felt a bit like Xmas.  Though now we have to think of something nicer for Xmas dinner if that is possible.  Tony will be mulling this over long before we need to think about it, I think it's one of his favorite games. Thinking about different tastes and textures then imagining exactly what we he wants being on offer and 'hey presto' we have yummy Xmas dinner.

Whoops I have gone right off on a tangent.
These are also very yummy and fat free! and very very colourful,
They are all ready to sew on the beads and buttons, then the backs and the labels...I have made a start today, but Arthur has caught yet another bug and is not very well and when he is not very well he gets very very cross...bless :)
I am happy that I am surrounded by colour, lots of gorgeous colours let the fun begin!

Buttons.

Tony had gone out playing music..so I decided to take over the sitting room, in a nice tidy way and watch one of my favorite fims. The Mistress Of Spices, I love the colours and photography, the beautiful spices piled high in the shop, I would love a wool shop with a similar character. Instead I set up my buttons like they are spices and poured them into these sweet little bowls (which were really meant for the kitchen, whoops!).
I managed to sew all the buttons on my mobile phone socks while watching the film and enjoying a nice glass of wine. All very peaceful.

I have left the buttons in the bowls and put them in my workspace ready for making more button necklaces.

To celebrate Tony's birthday we had planned to go away on our own for the weekend, originally to Paris which would have been lovely but we felt it would be very hard for anyone trying to look after Arthur at the moment. Instead we went  to the Cotswolds and had an amazing weekend. 
We arrived at Woodstock  at lunch time, and had a great lunch at Hampers which is a cafe and Deli with a mouthwatering menu. Perfect start.
Having been told of a public right of way into Blenhiem Palace grounds (with out paying) by a lovely couple in Hampers, we went off for a trek around the Palace. A little bit grey with the occasional glimpse of sunlight. I felt myself calming down. I had a bit of a panic attack in the morning thinking that we would not get away,but it turns out arthur was very pleased to be looked after by Barbara and his older brothers George and Harry...infact I think he was dissapointed when we arrived back home Sunday night.
We visited Oxford on sunday it was very wet, so not great for walking around and looking at the architecture. We visited two galleries, it was amazing to actually be able to look at paintings and see them properly undisturbed, bliss.
This was a house of bricks in the Oxford Modern Gallery.

We stayed at a fab B and B just outside Oxford http://www.country-accom.co.uk/old-farmhouse/ . Vanessa was lovely and made you feel instantly at home. Breakfast was fantastic. We went home feeling very rested and realised we need a little bit more us time.

George and Harry were brilliant with Arthur everyone had a great weekend. Ha ra!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well I'm busy, but the shop is very quiet today.  

The minute I wrote that there was a little rush.

People are booking up for the crochet course next Saturday so thats great news.

I have been busy getting a collection together for the Black Swan art Gallery in Frome, one of my favorite arty shops so thats been quite exciting.  

This little necklace has just gone on Folksy, I bought the clear perspex buttons at an antique fair and really should have bought a lot more of them! Though I had already got lots of lovely vintage ones by the time I found them.
These are new craft kits I have made to with Usborne books that my neighbour is selling at local craft fairs. I have done some knitting ones too. We have been planning to get kits out for ages so its great to see some organised and packaged up.
I have also put them on my website. I have a new website which I can easily update myself , so over the next few weeks I will be putting lots of bits in the online shop. As soon as stock comes in I will photograph it to go online as well as displaying it in the B and M shop. (well thats my intention anyway)

It will be great to be in control of the website and I,m sure it will become a lot more interesting especially if the classes take off.

I better get back to my list, starting with 24 mobile phone socks, 6 hats, make the knitting craft kits, finish the tea cosies, make up a scarf knitting kit....that will do for today. Oh and in between play with Arthur, we have already played post offices and built a few duplo towers. 

Fun Fun Fun!!

The older boys and Tony are off snowboarding tonight so it will be a peaceful evening.

'We Don't want to go home!"

I held a needle felting class on Saturday, these are pictures of the bits people made.
It is truly inspiring working with other people, it is amazing how everyone comes up with completely different ways of using the same tools.
I did keep going into my making corner and coming out with more beads and buttons and findings as I saw pieces develop. It is great to take home a finished item,
or two..
or three... actually nobody wanted to go home! Once they got into the needle felting they just wanted to make more and more. It was a lovely day and I am sure everyone had a great time.
I am so looking forward to doing more workshops after xmas. They will be from 10- 1pm and only £15.00  I think this will work much better than a whole day as I realise not everyone can spare a whole day and the price will include materials so is great value.

The next one is Crochet 10-1pm on the 22nd of November. I will be teaching how to crochet granny squares, flowers and circles.

The grumps.

Well, everything went down hill after getting out of bed on Monday. We decide to visit Sherborne , Kate one of the knitters told me about Castle Garden Centre being full of xmas bits and said Arthur would love it. Also I thought I may find another Gallery to supply in Sherborne while we were out hmm. 

The Garden centre was amazing, I have never seen so much Xmas stuff in one place displayed brilliantly there were lots of rooms you walked through all with a different theme,  a large toy dog that looks real (and moves) by the fire place, penguins perched in the snow that were all moving, glitzy xmas with silver baubles and glass ornaments, and Arthurs favorite a room with a train track through the snow with little lit up houses..this is where I realised it was not going to be the best day! 

Arthur has been having Tantrums, really bad ones which take him ages to get out of the causes of which are unknown (hunger? tired?thirsty?) I try all cures. anyway he started getting grumpy so I immediatly thought he was hungry, so we went to the cafe where he refused to eat or drink (ill?) and just got stroppier and stroppier Tony tried hard to talk to him about other things (would distraction work?) I tried hard to get food into him! In the end i took him outside for a walk around. We then decided to venture into Sherborne, Arthur got cross getting in the car, getting out of the car and so it went on! We tried walking up the High Street, Arthur became a monster child shouting 'I don't love you any more!' and screaming at the top of his voice causing people to cross the road and give us hard stares (I had pmt so was quite paranoid!).  Also because I had pmt I had no patience and all my ways of dealing with screaming children had suddenly slipped from my mind and all I wanted to do was sit down and cry like Arthur (its my day off and I want to be out aaaah!) Which obviously didn't help the situation. Tony tried very hard to cheer us both up but in the end we abandoned ship and went home me with the dark gloomy grumps and Arthur screaming. Poor Tony! He only wanted a nice morning out.

I had the grumps for two days it's like  a dark cloud goes down over my brain and everthing becomes negative, I know it will pass but it doesn't help.  I also get this horrible monotone voice which scares the customers away and then moan that the takings are down. I can't add up and always want to do my bookwork while I'm in that state which is dumb I realise after.

Any way my cloud has lifted a bit, Arthur I know is just being two but it is very difficult and just wears us all down. I think it has a lot to do with the clocks going back and he is not having his normal sleep, also he was sleeping 2 hours a day (which I am missing a lot.) and using a dumby when he was tired, so I think a combination of all these things has given him the grumps.  But it doesn't make it any easier!!!!

  

I have just been reading the Sunday Times, I know it's Monday but it's really my Sunday, So it's lovely to start the day by reading in bed.  Finding this pic on the front of style magazine was really exciting the bad news is India Knight has beaten me to releasing a book called Make do and Mend! As Tony pointed out she is a little bit more in the spotlight than me and knows a few publishers, hmmm.   Ah well on to the next project! The good news though is that I have changed my shop to be more crafty and it is looking very much like a wool shop so I am ready for the rush!! Just need a picture in the local paper of me like the one above but with giant needles and maybe not as much pouting, maybe then the customers will come pouring in?              

Cup Cakes

Today me and Arthur made some cupcakes, I am not the best cook far too messy, but Arthur is too! Love the colours of these..and they disapeared really quickly when George and Harry saw them, luckily Arthur shared a few.

Yesterday I made blue soup, yummy! I was infact making playdough, which is unbelievably easy to make. 

Using flour,oil,salt and bicarbonate of soda, starts off as soup and just gets thicker and thicker, till the spoon no longer moves, then its ready.

After kneeding for a bit it looks like this..Arthur then adds buttons to it (as there are quite a few around!) these become wheels and nih naw lights. So peace for 5 minutes ha ra!

working mum!

We all went out to Center Parcs for the day on Wednesday with a very dear friend..well not all of us Tony was very poorly with 'man flu' so couldn't go, not only was he very sad about this but he was left to be poorly all on his own for the day. Though I think that probably has advantages! It was a great day and arthur loved having his older brothers around. Its quite rare these days to all go out.
Me and Arthur at work today, the shop went quiet in the afternoon due to the horrendous winter weather.
I managed to get a lot of brooches needle felted to look like cup cakes. These are also off to two galleries but I'm hoping to keep a few to go on Etsy and Folksy very soon.

Delicous and fat free.

This is my new tea cosy design I did two for Fisherton Mill, but only managed to finish one! I was sewing the buttons on in my pj's and dressing gown at 7.30 the morning I had to deliver them. They are knitted with roving wool in gorgeous colours in three pieces which I then crocheted together with a contrasting colour, they were then chucked into the washing machine to felt. I added a mixture of vintage and modern buttons to give it a unique feel. 
I have to make lots more of these..And am knitting one while waiting for my pics to upload.
Little mobile phone socks also went to Fisherton Mill along with mobile phone charms and these lovely brooches. No wander I have not added to folksy or etsy for a few weeks!

These necklaces are crocheted using a lovely soft hemp, the photos are not great as I was running out of time to catch a train and pack them up to be delivered to Fisherton Mill in Salisbury. They have a fab cafe with the gallery so Arthur and Tony came too which made it a nice break. I also got an order for more of the bits I have been designing so thats great news!
Beads and buttons used to make the hemp necklaces.

The missing photos.

After Arthur saw his photo, and he took a few of his own he decided I should have a picture of him happy.

Thursday night knit and natter is going from strength to strength with new people joining each week..it is a good job that not every one comes on the same Thursday or I may run out of space. Lady Pole from ravelry has joined us for the last two weeks and has brought with her a spinning wheel, so I was able to have a go ...not very succesfully I may add, I keep making the wheel go round the wrong way which is not a good idea. I did manage to produce a small amount of bobbly wool last week. This week Lady pole brought the wools she had spun using some of the merino wool from my shop I will post a pic later to show how beautiful it is.  The yarns she has made are amazing.

Autumn Walk

We managed to sneak off for another Autumn walk, again I shut the shop till 11. 0 clock, I hope this didn't upset to many people. I thought it was quite important for me to capture the Autumn on what we thought was a sunny morning, by the time we got to Stourhead it was not so sunny.

You couldn't see the trees for the photographers that morning! Can't blame them though, the colours were beautiful! There are more pics in my flickr collection.

I love the way this picture came out, with the circles  as the rain drops hit the water, and the painterly effect of the leaves under water. We were down in the Grotto when I took this esca[ping from the shower.

Arthur was not impressed with me taking photos and was having a two year strop! I tried feeding him as this will sometimes be the answer, but as you can see that didn't work!

I've just lost the other pics I uploaded! I am still learning how to do this. So I will post this bit and see what happens. Doooh,