Sneak Preview..

Ha ra the fabrics arrived! A much smaller box than I thought, Which i had a little trouble opening due to my excitement.
I was a bit worried of running the knife straight through the packaging and through the fabric..I have done that many times before!
You can't really tell from this pic, but the fabric is as fab as I remember.
I will take better photos over the next couple of days..and maybe actually put it on my website :) For now I better find some space in my shop.. and then start cutting some fat quarters.

Banished to the dining room.

Last night I was banished from our sitting room, as tony and harry were taking it over.  They were going through rugby dvd's of the under 15's North dorset Teams season...which I must say has been a good one winners of the County Cup 3 years running, infact i think they only lost one match in the whole season and that was to come second out of 8 teams.  any way tony is putting together the end of year dvd where it shows highlights from each player.  So they annoyingly have to watch all the matches , they watch a bit discuss it, pause rewind watch it again discuss, write down the number so they can go back to it..this goes on for hours! Now i don't mind watching Harry play rugby a bit, but i get bored after....10 minutes and moan so much that they have had to banish me, and warned me in advance.

Well I do have a lot of toys to play with (of the crafting kind!) so I decide to get out the embellisher which I have not really tested out properly since I got it at xmas.

The skirt on the table i started to embellish at the last Make do and Mend workshop, and just need to add one more heart and possibly some fabric to the bottom, to make it longer. I have this great wool that looks like it has been sewn all down the middle of it, I have embellished onto the skirt and used it to make some cup warmers (will finish them and post a pic tommorow). It is great for edging and looks as though I have sewn it on.

I have been collecting lots of denim skirts and jackets to upcycle, so at least I got going on that.

I also used the embellisher to fray the edges around fabric hearts which I anm adding to old pillow cases and turning them into laundry bags. So I had a lot of fun.
I had a brill day yesterday, starting with a carboot in the morning, me and arthur left the house quite early to get there before the other buyers, it was lovely and peaceful for the first half an hour and we managed to get quite a lot of good stuff, I got some fabric, needles and assorted knitting bits, as well as an old wooden sewing box with a lovely needle holder full of really old needles (twice as thick as the modern day ones) and two skirts to upcycle.  

 Arthur got a fab spider man suit (which he has not taken off since it came out of the washing machine. I did make him leave it at the end of his bed explaining how hot he may get if he left it on! (not great to sleep in nylon!) he also got a whole load of army vehicles for a 1.00 so was very pleased.  
When we got back Arthur played with his new toys and I was able to do some spinning in the garden yay!  Alice aka Ladypole gave me some of her gorgeous carded wool to spin a few weeks ago, so it was great to see it turned into yarn. A wee bit over spun but i am just learning :)
Saturday i spent cutting some of my fabric mountain to put in the shop as fat quarters.  I have a huge delivery of fabric arriving tommorow, which i am a little apprehensive about as no one really knows i have started doing fabric...ah they will tommorow ,it is gorgeous linens from japan, some cupcake ones, some vintagey looking and some russian dolls with the most amazing ribbon.
These are button hearts i have been making to show people how they can use up there buttons.

Back to work.

I had a lovely delivery of Jewellery Tuesday and have been busy changing my whole cabinet, which now looks very flowery, and organised....another delivery of Pearls and Girls jewellery is due in any day, and really there is not much space left for it. I think I need a rush of customers, always the optimist :)  Today i am going to finish these brooches just need to add butons and beads.
I really should be doing a whole shop stock take :( but keep getting side tracked as usual..there are much more fun things to do, counting is boring!  I have started though..slowly slowly, I have found Items that no longer go well in with the constantly changing stock, so next week I am going to have a photography week, and update my shops on Folksy and Etsy (with new bits) and have a sale on e-bay (with old bits).  While doing the link to my Etsy shop I realised how long it is since i updated it, poor shop.  
These are some of my button brooches using some of my huge stash of Vintage buttons, I have been teaching people how to make these and button hearts as well as jewellery as part of the new button workshop.
I thought I would share a couple of my favorite cards with you, these are by Pulp, and I have a great range of them in my shop.
Der.. think that might be me ;0

Colours of spring.

This is my summer hat I crocheted while on Holiday, not photographed very well, I need to get one of the boys to take a picture of me in it.  I like it but I am going to try and make the next one much more 'bucket like'. More like the old cloche hats.  It has been made using the Adriafil memphis cotton from my shop.  I was going to do a link to my website (now I have learn't how to do this.) but have just looked and I have not yet added the plain cottons...a week of photography coming up I think!
This is bunting i am knitting to show off the sock yarns I have just got in, I don't think any one could imagine how the ball of wool will knit up without seeing it. The long bit is the cord to hang the bunting from ( I think it would look great as a skinny scarf.) I will add felt balls and possibly buttons to the finished bunting.
My pile of finished triangles. I love the colours.
I have spent the last two days still in holiday mode. Sunday we went for a walk along the disused rail track at Sturminster Newton, Arthur rode his bike by himself for the first time and absolutly loved the freedom. It is a lovely place to walk, a nice safe path in the middle of beautiful countryside.
Today I took Arthur and Harry out with my Mum to Brokers wood .
We had a lovely picnic by the lake, and Harry ran off with Arthur so Mum and me were able to take some pictures.  It really felt like spring.
Harry and Arthur on the flying fox.

We saw wild orchids, bluebells, and violets, a brilliant time to walk in the woods.
The bluebells were just starting to come out, but I'm glad I got some pictures.  The last couple of years when they have been out it has constantly poured with rain.
The blossom looks beautifull every where. Back to work tommorow. :(

egg cosies are not just for Easter..

I hope!  I made these cute egg cosies before Easter and put some on Folksy. 

I,ve also been making summer socks for mobile phones (no heels involved!).
These colourful ones i did not put on as I took the wrong style pics, I forgot that I needed to do them square. I will be taking pics again next week when Arthur is at nursery.

I was doing these in vintagey (not sure if thats a real word?) colours, with lovely fabric vintage buttons. I managed to put a couple of these on Folksy.
So next week i will be adding lots more on Etsy and folksy, because I will have lots more time..Arthur starts nursery 4 mornings a week yay!

Family holiday.

We have just spent a lovely week down at Charmouth, so many great places to visit from there.The older boys and Tony walked over the hills to Lyme Regis (one of my favorite places!) on Bank Holiday Monday while I sat on the beach in Charmouth knitting and looking after Arthur. The sun was shining , the beach was busy but not over crowded. 

The picture above is Beer, where we went for breakfast on the beach. There is a few shacks on the beach that serve breakfast. It was really lovely and quiet. I managed to have a look round one of my favorite galleries Marine Gallery, on the walk back to the car. 
The boys spent an hour throwing stones, this one was aimed at me..not a good idea!
Arthur looks like 'butter wouldn't melt!' He had fun being taught by his dad and brothers how to climb rocks, jump waves, dig huge holes, and generally do things that may be a little dangerous.  They often went off and left me to knit, so that I didn't keep saying 'thats not a good idea,' or 'be careful' or' you will live to regret that!' I am such a thrill spoiler!
I wander how many holidays are left where we all go? George did manage to find some good skate parks the Trick factory at Bridport was favorite, followed by Seaton. 
It was great to spend time with the whole family, we stayed in a house which was a huge plus.  We have attempted camping for the past three years and always end up very wet and very cross through lack of sleep.  I managed to get quite a bit of knitting and crochet done while we were away. Pics to follow :)

Now all I need to do is catch up on bookwork, take lots of money to make up for the lost week of takings and get some orders finished...oh and do a painting by May, once I clear my attic studio of all Arthurs old clothes and toys as well as the stash of jumpers I have for recycling. Ho Hum :)